Tainted Blood: The Beginning
by Kohana Kurama
Summary: Their futures are defined and dictated by those around them...Itachi refuses to be inferior, begins to hate, and awakens the demon within...Sasuke only wants to surpass his older brother...and she only wants to be free...[Itachi, Sasuke, and OC]
1. A Lost Bet

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Prologue: History

_Long ago in the Hidden Leaf Village, there were two prominent clans. There was the Uchiha clan, who was known for their role in Konoha's law enforcement and doujutsu specialty called the Sharingan, and the Hyuga clan, known for their doujutsu called Byakugan. One of these clans was wiped out in what the villagers called the Uchiha Massacre. The Uchiha clan was murdered by the head of the clan's own son, leaving only himself and his younger brother alive, killing a total of fifty-seven._

_Hidden in the shadow of these clans, there was another clan with a special ability. The Kurama clan was small, then made of only fifteen members. Every few generations a member was born with incredible talent for Genjutsu. Their illusions could actually produce tangible effects that occurred in reality. The Genjutsu was so powerful that it caused the brain to make anything that happened to the victim within the illusion physically real, allowing the clan member to potentially kill their opponents with Genjutsu. It was completely irresistible and the only way to save a victim was to knock them out cold._

_However, the user could rarely control the full extent of their abilities. Their subconscious would often regulate that power to help them effectively use the Genjutsu, but it led to the creation of a second personality who eventually developed complete control of the ability. This new personality would then become blood-thirsty and, with time, the individual turned into a psychopathic monster, a danger to everyone around them._

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Chapter One: A Lost Bet

Kisho Kurama was addicted to gambling. Every chance he got to place a bet, no matter how ridiculous the bet itself was, he would and inevitably lose. At first the residents of Konoha found this to be amusing but once they realized how reckless he was, they started to distance themselves from him. He was cousin to the mysterious Kurama clan, however, because of his addiction, they disowned him to prevent him from bringing embarrassment to the family name. Ashamed, he quietly left Konoha and became a wanderer until he reached the Hidden Rain Village in Rain Country. There he was able to restart his life, joining the local police force. He did well for the first year. He met and fell in love with a woman named Akina, who owned a floral shop. After four months of dating, he proposed to Akina and they were wed two months later. Kisho eventually told Akina about his past and amazingly she loved him just the same. Akina became pregnant and Kisho was overjoyed. He believed if he had a son, the child could restore his reputation and they could be accepted into the family. Even though Akina told him that it wasn't certain the baby was a boy, Kisho began to believe it was the case and even began to buy stuff intended for a boy.

One day as Kisho was coming home from work, he spotted an elderly lady. She was hunched over, wearing a brownish, slightly torn dress that hung from her skeletal frame. "Come here, young man." Her voice sounded like something was scraping on concrete as she beckoned him with a long bony finger. He stopped and looked around. She pointed at him. "Yes, you. Come here." He looked at her skin. It was very ghostly with brown age spots on the back of her hand. He stepped to her cautiously. "You seem like the type to place a good wager." She smiled. Her black eyes were dull and lifeless, and the smile on her face seemed to be forced.

"I don't like to gamble, ma'am." He shook his head and backed away from the table.

"Oh? Are you sure? This is one bet I'm sure you can't lose." Her smile was wicked, yet Kisho couldn't resist the urge to approach her table once more.

"What's the bet?" He asked anxiously."Oh, it's fairly simple." She reached under the table and pulled out a deck of cards, peeled off three of them, put those three on the table, and returned the rest back under her table. She turned the cards over for him to see. Each had an animal on it: a black crow, a brown weasel, and a white dog. Kisho was very familiar with this kind of bet.

"Which one do I have to find?" He asked looking at her.

"Actually, you pick for yourself. Then you try to find that card again." She explained pushing the cards towards him. He reached for the cards but abruptly stopped himself.

"What's the wager?" He looked at her as if she would suddenly attack him.

"How about your home?" Her voice now had a suspicious tone of malice to it.

"What?! Are you nuts? My wife will give birth soon. I can't bet our home!" Kisho turned preparing to walk away. Overhead, thunder boomed as clouds darkened the sky. The old woman reached out and caught his wrist in a death grip.

"But, if you win, you get what your home is worth." She tried to reason with him. Kisho looked down at her hand on his wrist and she reluctantly let go. "You can't possibly turn down this opportunity."

He thought about what Akina would say. He pictured her in the kitchen, her swollen belly making her waddle around like a penguin. He then looked at the woman who looked to be days from death and sighed. It was an opportunity of a lifetime... "How do I know that you will be true to your word? You can't possibly have the money on you now."

She tilted her head to the side and said, "That is true, I suppose. I work for an organization called the Boshoku. They will ensure that you get your money, or that we collect should you lose."

Kisho shook his head as light raindrops began to sprinkle the ground. "Well, let's hurry. I don't want to get caught in the rain."

The woman clapped and smiled broadly, revealing that she was missing several teeth. Kisho reached forward and pulled a card from the middle of the pile, the dog. He looked at it then put it back face down and watched her shuffle them around. Finally she looked back up at him expectantly. "Pull the one you think is your card."

Kisho said nothing as he stared at the card he was certain to be his. He reached forward and turned it over. His eyes widened with shock as he stared at the weasel. The old woman made a sound of disappointment as she picked up a card on her far right and revealed the dog. "It seems the weasel has fooled you as well."

"There's no way! I watched you with my own eyes." He whispered.

"It cannot be changed." She looked at him solemnly.

"What do you mean?" He sensed that she wasn't talking about the bet anymore.

"These cards were dealt to you for a reason, Kisho. The--"

"How do you know my name?" Kisho asked but she ignored him.

"--dog will soon come into your life. Heed my warning; treat it fairly or it will surely be the cause of your demise. In the dog's company will be the weasel. Don't be fooled by its appearance. It has been exploited and mistreated. Its blood will boil with vengeance and hatred, and if the dog is not careful, the weasel will make it hateful too. You must love the dog, Kisho. In the weasel is the crow. It is pure evil. It feeds on the weasel's pain, suffering, and hatred. It uses that pain to make the weasel do its bidding. Only the dog can save the weasel...You must love the dog, Kisho. Love her. For if you don't, not only do you put your own life in danger but everyone on this earth. Kisho...love her." The old woman's eyes were wide with fear and she had begun shaking. She grabbed his vest and stared into his eyes. "Please love her, Kisho. For all of our sakes."

"Ma'am!"

She blinked several times and her eyes returned to the dull, lifeless black they had been. "I'm sorry. A man from the Boshoku organization will be along to collect the deed to your house." She put the cards underneath the table and turned to leave. Kisho followed her, attempting to reason with her. There was a loud clap of thunder and lightning lit up the sky, causing Kisho to stop and look around. The streets were empty. He turned back to the woman but realized she was gone...

Kisho went home, his mind racing to find something to tell Akina. When he got in, she quickly wrapped a towel around him and asked where he had been. He explained the bet with the old woman and how he had lost. As expected, Akina threw a tantrum but in the end, she forgave him.

"I was beginning to get tired of the rain anyway. It's time for some sunshine, don't you think, Kisho? Can't we just move away?" Akina asked. Kisho thought about it. There was nowhere else he wanted to be. The Hidden Rain Village had allowed him to rebuild his life and reputation.

"We can't. We'll just have to find a way to talk them out of it. Or offer to pay them money instead. I can't just get up and leave everything behind again. This time will be different. I won't run away again, Akina." Kisho stood and left her there holding his towel.

- - - - - - - - - -

Months went by and Akina finally gave birth. Unfortunately, she had a baby girl. Kisho was so angry with this that he went to the nursery that he had made and destroyed it. Akina listened to his yells of frustration and held her baby girl close to her chest and kissed her forehead. "My darling angel, maybe you can heal your father's broken heart." The baby opened her eyes slightly and looked up at Akina. Akina chuckled and let her grab her fingertip. "You're an angel, Mitsukai."


	2. The Collector

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Chapter Two: The Collector

For the first four months of Mitsukai's life, her dad ordered Akina to keep her away from him. Whenever Mitsukai started to cry, he would get up and leave the room. Akina was forced to care for their daughter all on her own. Kisho sat in the living room and watched it rain while Akina changed Mitsukai's diaper. There was a heavy knock at the door and Kisho went to see who it was. A man in a brown business suit stood in the door. He was slightly taller than Kisho's 5'9" frame, wore glasses and his hair was neatly cut to frame his face.

"Good afternoon, sir." The man said politely. Kisho stood aside and let him pass. In the living room, Akina had just sat down with Mitsukai who was peacefully sleeping in her arms.

"How can we help you?" Kisho asked curiously.

"I am a representative from Boshoku. [It literally means dusk: hint, hint I'm here to collect the deed for your house." From his smile one would have thought he'd just asked to borrow a cup of sugar. It seemed forced, as if he had no choice but to smile and his eyes held no personality despite the brightness of his smile.

"What?" Kisho stared at the man in disbelief. The bet had been real and the old woman told the truth. Kisho swallowed in order to speak. "You can't be serious. You people really want my house? But why?"

"That's what we do. We find foolish people who are willing to bet their lives away and take all they have. I'm sorry this happened to you," he looked over at Akina and Mitsukai, "You have such a beautiful family."

"Surely, you would be more willing to take money instead of a deed. Is it possible for me to pay?" Kisho stood between the man and Akina, possessively.The man paused and thought about it.

"Well, from my knowledge, you come from the Kurama clan, yes?"

_'These people seem to know a lot about me...'_ Kisho thought then nodded slowly.

"Well," The man tilted his head to the side, "I happen to work in the science department of Boshoku. We need a test subject for an experiment. You are aware of the Kekkei Genkai trait that is in your clan, yes?"

Again, Kisho nodded.

"The other child who lives in Konoha is too old for our experiment, however..." He looked at Mitsukai, "Your daughter is young enough. I am willing to pay off your debt for you in exchange for your daughter."

"No!" Akina stood sharply, scaring Mitsukai, causing her to cry. "How could you even believe that we would trade our daughter as if she were an item? She is not a bargaining chip, or money, or wha--"

"Akina, enough!" Kisho cut his eyes at her. This was a window of opportunity for him. A science experiment on a four month old? It was the perfect way to get rid of the child. "When do you want her?"

"Well, I could take her now if you'd--"

"I said 'no'!" Akina screamed, voice shrill. Both men looked at her. "Kisho, you may not care for your own flesh and blood but I will kill you before I let you use her to clean up your mess!" Her dark blue eyes flashed dangerously, like those of a lioness protecting her cubs. She held Mitsukai tightly and looked at them as if she were ready to die fighting for her daughter.

Kisho closed his eyes and smiled. "Let me talk to her. Can you come back tomorrow at the same time?" Kisho's eyes held no emotion. He was determined to start his own branch of the clan to redeem his name.

The man nodded, "Sure. Should I bring something to carry the child in?"

"Yes." Kisho looked back at Akina, attempting to apologize with his eyes but she turned away and stormed out of the room.

"Well, then I will see you tomorrow." The man bowed slightly, and then left as quickly as he had come. Kisho took a deep breath then went to find Akina. He found her in their bedroom tossing clothes into a suitcase.

"Akina--"

"You have nothing to say that I want to hear, Kisho. Just because you don't love your own daughter doesn't mean that I can't and that I don't! Ever since I first got pregnant all you could talk about was how much you wanted a son to restore your name. Yes, she is a girl but that doesn't mean that she could never fix it for you! You haven't even given her a chance. As soon as we brought her home, you've been treating her as if she's the reason you're here. As if she's the reason you are where you are in life now. Don't blame her for your stupid mistakes. Blame yourself."

Kisho gritted his teeth and back handed Akina, knocking her back a few steps. "I understand that you're upset, but do not speak to me that way. I am not a child. I am your husband and the head of this household. I make all of the decisions and you go with them. If you ever act like that in front of another guest, I will make your life a living hell, Akina." He noticed Mitsukai lying quietly on their bed, seemingly watching the whole scene. "We can have other children. Besides, it's either this or we'll all be homeless. Can you stand the thought of exposing her to the cold? It's just starting to warm up but here in the Hidden Rain Village it will be a while before its warm enough to keep her outside for long periods of time."

Akina held her face, tears running down her cheeks. "I have an aunt that Mitsukai and I can stay with."

Kisho's eyes widened with surprise. "You'd leave me, Akina? You'd willingly leave after you promised me forever?" He stepped closer to her and she cringed.

"Kisho, it's for our daughter." Her voice shook as she spoke, trying to hold her ground.

"For all we know, they are able to give her more at this point than we can. There's no point in trying to find other solutions. You can't leave me but we can't be homeless. She has to go."

"Why her? Why not you?!" Akina screamed and he grabbed her by her throat and pinned her to the wall behind her; her feet dangled a few inches from the floor.

"You are testing my patience, Akina. I've made my decision and it's final." He stared at her waiting for a response. She stared at him until she began to feel light-headed.

"Okay." She rasped, needing air. He let her go and walked out of the room, leaving her alone with Mitsukai.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The next day the man returned as scheduled. Kisho invited him in to wait since Akina was in the nursery with Mitsukai. Akina took her time dressing the infant in a yellow dress and brushed her hair up into a small ponytail.

"Please, don't hate me, Mitsukai. If it were my choice, I would have taken you and left a long time ago. Your father isn't the same man I fell in love with. He's changed...Yet, I still love him. And I love you as well...I just..." Akina stopped to stifle a sob that caught in her throat. It was unfair. Yet, she felt so hopeless.

"Akina, hurry up! Let's not keep the man waiting." Kisho shouted back to her. She jumped at the sound of his voice. Taking a deep breath, she picked up Mitsukai.

"Ah, there she is." The man smiled. He showed her the carrier he had brought [the one where the baby is strapped to the person's chest or back and she helped him get Mitsukai in.

"What will you do to her?" Akina asked, biting her lip to keep her tears at bay.

"That is confidential." He didn't even pause to look at her. He kept adjusting the straps to make sure Mitsukai was secured.

"Will we see her again?" Akina took a step forward but Kisho gently pushed her back."That is uncertain. It depends on if she survives the experiment."

Both Kisho and Akina paled upon hearing his words. Akina looked at Kisho accusingly. Kisho stared at Mitsukai. _'If she survives...? I never imagined them doing something that could kill her...But even then, it would be better than I imagined...'_ Kisho fought the smile that threatened to appear on his face. He would have to celebrate later.

"Well, I must be going. You don't have to worry about the debt, sir. It's already taken care of. Good day to you." The man turned and left. Akina looked at Kisho.

"For your sake, you had better pray he brings my baby back. Or_ I_ will make your life a living hell, Kisho. Mark my words." With that, she spun on her heel and marched back to Mitsukai's room. Kisho only smirked. The burden was gone.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The building seemed ordinary enough, with the appearance of an abandoned warehouse. The villagers took little notice of the activity that had been going on for the last two years. The man carrying Mitsukai approached a side door and knocked twice. The door promptly opened and a tall, blue skinned man who resembled a shark wearing a black cloak with red clouds looked down at him.

"Hopefully you didn't run your mouth like the other agent did. You're just in time to see Sasori punish her." Kisame stepped aside to allow the man to enter. The two walked down the corridor silently until the pleas of an elderly woman could be heard distinctly. Kisame entered a door on the left and the man followed absently behind him. "Sasori, he's back and he has the child."

Another man turned around and looked at them. This one was a whole head shorter than Kisame with red hair yet wore the same cloak as he did. The collar of the cloak covered his mouth, almost reaching his nose. "Good. I was beginning to get impatient. The people in this village are a little harder to control with my Genjutsu than people from other villages. I'll deal with the old woman first and then we can go find Deidara and Orochimaru."

"Just hurry up. I don't want to watch you torture her for hours like you did the last one. I got bored after the first fifteen minutes." Kisame sighed then leaned against the door.

Sasori sighed, "You're lucky. You'll have to suffer a quick yet painful death."

"P-please...n-no..." The aged woman pleaded, shaking horribly with fear. Dried tears from previous days coated her face as new ones wet her cheeks. Her brownish dress now appeared black since she had been locked in the basement that had a dirt floor and a water leak. Months after her meeting with Kisho, Sasori had kept her locked in the basement after realizing that she had tried to warn Kisho. Now it was time to end her suffering...

Sasori raised his hand out towards her and she screamed in fright. A puppet in the corner with six arms twitched then rose into the air.

"Nooo!!!" The woman tried to get up the puppet zoomed across the room and hovered in the air in front of her.

"You were warned that if you tried to cross us, you would die. You chose death when you tried to warn him, Aoiko." Sasori moved his fingers as the puppet's chest opened and rope shot out, wrapped around the woman and pulled her inside. She screamed and hit the inside of the puppet's chest, begging for another chance. Sasori chuckled, "There is no mercy in this world. You know that." The puppets arms unlocked and pointed toward its body, the ends now equipped with ten inch blades that had poison dripping from the edges. "Goodnight, Aoiko." The blades inserted themselves into various holes in the puppet's body. Aoiko screamed out and suddenly stopped. Sasori and Kisame watched as blood dripped from the puppet's body and made a crimson pool on the floor.

"Okay, now let's go. We can't keep the others waiting." Kisame turned and walked out the door. The man holding Mitsukai followed and Sasori trailed behind him; the puppet hovered along behind them, still dripping blood.

In another room, a blonde little boy with sea green eyes, sat at a table, sculpting baby birds that fit precisely in the palm of his hands. Leaned against the wall was a pale man with long black hair who resembled a snake, complete with the eyes and all.

"Deidara, let's go." Sasori didn't bother to look at him as they continued to cross the room to the other door. Deidara stood and put the birds into his clay pouch that rested on his hip.

"You know, would it be too much to ask for some entertainment around here, yeah? If I absolutely have to be here then the least you people could do is entertain me." Deidara trudged along behind the procession of people. Orochimaru moved silently with them.

Kisame chuckled, "Well, I apologize but you are a valuable addition to the Akatsuki. Before you just blew up things for fun, now you can do it for fun while serving a purpose for us. Everyone wins."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. So is that the child that Leader-sama was talking about? The one with the Kekkei Genkai trait?" Deidara jogged to catch up with the unknown man, whose face was still expressionless, to get a glimpse of Mitsukai. Her head rested on the man's chest as she looked around with curious eyes. "Aw, she's cute--"

"Don't get attached. The odds of her dying from the sealing are nearly ninety-five percent. Until you're able to effectively detach yourself from your emotions, you're not allowed to be near her." Sasori pulled Deidara back behind him. Deidara stood there for a moment. Even though he was only eight years old, Deidara was wise beyond his years, having an acute understanding of death and pain.

"Well, fine. I didn't really want to see her that bad anyway, yeah." He folded his arms across his chest and followed silently.

Finally they came to a dark room that had a stone table and a big brown urn next to it. In front of the table stood two figures; one of them spoke, "Do you have the child?"

"Yes." Sasori motioned to Mitsukai.

"Place her on the table and get to your positions. The sealing must take place as soon as possible." The man said. They told Deidara to take Mitsukai out of her holder and put her on the table. They then took their places around her to form a six point star, each making the goat hand sign. Their rings glowed as the concentrated their chakra into the ring. The urn beside Mitsukai shook cautiously then the lid shot off and a gold beam of chakra rose into the air. A sudden wind gusted through, causing each person to nearly lose their balance, and actually knocking little Deidara over.

"Get up! You can't break the chain now!" Sasori commanded and Deidara did as he was told. The chakra began to swirl in the form of a tornado over Mitsukai. There was a slight burning sensation on the skin of her stomach and she began to cry. The chakra seemed to be absorbed by Mitsukai and as a result was slowly sucked inside of her. After nearly five hours, the sealing was finally complete. The leader approached Mitsukai and placed his hand on her stomach then removed it, revealing a seal that resembled a snowflake.

"It is done." They waited for her to show any sign of life. After a long minute, she turned her head to the side and began to wail. They all shared a triumphant smirk of accomplishment. "It worked. Take her home."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It was a little after midnight yet someone was knocking insistently at the door. Kisho stumbled to the door. "What do you want?" He muttered rudely.

"Here's your child back. Our experiment is done." The man held her out at arm's length. Kisho stood there for a minute to process what he had just been told.

"I'm sorry...What?" He shook his head to wake himself up some more. Akina's barefooted footfalls padded softly as she came to his side.

"Who is it, Kisho?" She peered over his shoulder and her eyes settled on Mitsukai. "Is it...?"

She stepped around Kisho and looked closely at the sleeping infant. Her eyes widened and her heart skipped a beat as she took Mitsukai from him and looked at her daughter's face. "B-but why?"

"The experiment went well. She survived and now all we have to do is wait." The man looked at them.

Kisho tried to keep a straight face. It would have been an understatement to say he was disappointed that the brat hadn't died like he planned... "Wait for what?"

"In five years, we will come back for her. We will train her to be a kunoichi." The man started to turn away but Kisho stopped him.

"A kunoichi? But why? There's nothing special about her."

The man smirked, "To you she may not be, sir, but to us...she's priceless."

This time Kisho let him walk away, disappearing into the night.


	3. Pride of the Uchiha

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Chapter Three: Pride of the Uchiha

When Mikoto gave birth to her first son, she affectionately named him Itachi because of the way he seemed to wiggle around on her chest, reminding her of a weasel--always on the move and unable to be still for long periods of time. At home, she always chased him around as he crawled about with an incredible speed for an infant. He showed the traits of a genius, able to quickly guess where she was hiding during a game of hide and seek, learning how to spell his name at the age of two, and more importantly, being able to understand what was going on in the world around him. Mikoto was awed by Itachi's psyche. The way his little mind worked always caught her off guard; his questions often made her stop and think of a logical answer that he would be satisfied with. Itachi was closer to his mother than his father, Fugaku, that is until the day Itachi picked up a kunai that Fugaku had left on the nightstand in their bedroom...

Itachi was wandering through the house searching for his mother and decided to check in their bedroom. He poked his head in and gave it a look over, and his eye landed on a shiny piece of metal left carelessly on a nightstand that was eye level in height to him. He picked it up by its handle and eyed it.

_'What's this?'_ Itachi turned it over in his hands. It was cold and fairly light, as if made to throw. He heard his father's voice and quickly ran out of the room, forgetting that he still carried the weapon. He dashed to his room and sat in the closet, still eyeing the weapon. The edge was sharp, that he could tell just from looking at it. _'What is it supposed to do?'_ He looked around the room until he spotted a teddy bear an aunt had given him as a birthday present. He sat on his knees in front of it and poked the bear in the side with it. As he'd suspected, the stitching on the bear's side was sliced and fluffing began to bulge out. Itachi's eyes widened as he realized that what he was holding was dangerous. He stood slowly as if the kunai would attack him at any moment and turned to return the metal back to where he had gotten it from.

"Itachi, what are you doing?" Fugaku asked. Itachi's eyes widened as he realized that he could possibly be punished for going into his parents' room without their permission and taking something that obviously was a danger to him.

"I-I was going to put this back--"

"Is that mine?" His father cut him off. "You know you are not to go into our room..." His voice trailed off as he became aware of what Itachi was holding, and how he was holding it. It was the first time Fugaku had ever seen Itachi holding something related to a shinobi's life. Then just as quickly, another realization hit him: As smart as Itachi was, it would have been no trouble at all to start teaching him the basics of being a ninja. Sure he was only three, but still. It would better to get him started now then to wait five more years like the rest of the children. His son was a genius, even he knew that. He'd just never shown any interest in his son until he saw him holding the kunai. He was certain his son had the talent, the will, and the power to become the Uchiha clan's strongest ninja. He let Itachi keep the kunai as he stepped around him, going to the master bedroom. The wheels in his head turned quickly, plotting out Itachi's lessons and training. Yes... He would be the pride of the Uchiha one day. Even if it killed Fugaku, he would make sure Itachi would represent the Uchiha clan well.

* * *

Suddenly there was no time for Itachi to go outside and play with the other kids. There wasn't even time to play hide and seek with his own mother. He soon saw more of Fugaku then he did his mother, and as a result, they became distant. She soon was no longer excited to see Itachi come and go, and Itachi stopped running into her arms whenever he and Fugaku came back from training.

Because Itachi saw so much of his father, he began to unconsciously absorb and exhibit some of his father's traits. For example, he never saw his father smile. His father was also very methodical; there was a reason, part of a bigger plan, for every little thing he did down to the smallest detail. Over time, the Itachi that his mother knew began to disappear. The more Itachi learned about being a shinobi, the less he acted like the four year old he should have been. The once bright and smiling face everyone knew slowly disappeared. He went from smiling from ear to ear, being carefree and asking a million questions about everything, to a withdrawn, militant, and very serious child. In short, he was robbed of his childhood in order to become stronger, faster, and if possible, smarter as a shinobi.

Mikoto noticed this change in her son. He came home the first day excited about all of the cool things his father had taught him, like how to throw the miniature shuriken at trees and hit the targets and concentrating his chakra in order to blow tiny fire "clouds". A week later, his eyes no longer reflected the joyful smile on his face, as if he were forcing it for his father's sake. The week after that, there wasn't any detectable joy on his face at all, just sadness; it was as if he had been told he couldn't have something he wanted, and even that was true--he wanted to be a kid again but now he had crossed the line between child and adult. The only problem was that he was stuck in his four year old body. Soon the sadness was replaced with a chilling indifferent look, like he had given up trying to be a child again and had accepted the fact that he was going to be what his father wanted him to be, a great and honorable ninja. In truth, Itachi had come to terms with his situation. His dad controlled his life at this point and there was nothing he could do except make his father proud of him. Deep down inside, Itachi felt inferior to his father. His father dominated his life, controlled it, and in a way, owned it. Itachi began to feel like he had no life of his own, no mind of his own, and the look of indifference began to settle permanently on his face. Small age lines began to set, causing two very short age lines on his face at forty-five degree angles between his nose and eyes symmetrically on each side of his face.

* * *

To Itachi and Mikoto's relief, another son came along, Sasuke. Itachi hoped that Fugaku would spend more time wrapped up in Sasuke to take the pressure off of him to become the superhero Fugaku wanted him to be. Mikoto wanted another son to replace the one that Fugaku had taken away from her and turned into an expressionless dull child. She let Fugaku have Itachi as long as she could have Sasuke. Little did she know, if she had at any time during this point in Itachi's life stepped in and spoke on his behalf, she could have saved her son from becoming cold, distant, and eventually heartless.

But she didn't.

She wrapped herself up in Sasuke as she had done with Itachi. He often watched her hold Sasuke and wondered why she wouldn't hold him anymore. He'd listen to her sing to the infant and wonder why he had stopped hearing her sing her own song for especially made for him. He'd watch with a broken heart as she planted gentle kisses on Sasuke's forehead and wonder what he had done that caused him to be unworthy of her motherly love and affection. Soon he closed his heart to such feelings and concentrated on his training. If his mother refused to love him then he would try to win his father over.

Itachi secretly resented Sasuke for stealing his mother's attention from him. The first time Itachi was allowed to hold Sasuke, all he could think about was using a technique Fugaku had shown him that killed an opponent by snapping their neck. Sasuke had such a tender, fragile neck. It wouldn't take much to break it. In fact, he was awed at how it was able to hold up Sasuke's head at times.

As the months passed, Itachi got better with his speed, agility, and jutsu every day...but he couldn't get Sasuke's little neck out of his head. He never wanted to kill Sasuke. At his age, he had learned so much about how to kill someone and death itself that it was hard not to look at someone, find their weaknesses and devise the fastest way to kill them. By the time Sasuke was one year old, it didn't even feel like he had a mother anymore. Just some woman who would chase his drooling babbling little brother around the house. Soon Mikoto became nothing to Itachi.

Instead, Itachi exhibited another Fugaku trait and began to try to seriously teach Sasuke the proper uses of a kunai. The wide-eyed child appeared to be listening intently and his parents would watch them closely. A light bulb went off in his head. As he played with Sasuke and attempted to teach him shinobi things, both of their parents actually saw him as a human being. If he became the big brother they wanted him to be, then maybe they would stop pushing him so hard...

It was late one night when Itachi was going to the bathroom and overheard Fugaku talking to Mikoto.

"You know, if Itachi had the patience, he could train Sasuke to be great like him one day." He glanced at Mikoto who had been pinning her hair up for bed.

"Do you think so? I've never pictured Itachi actually spending time with Sasuke, since you two are always off training and all."

Fugaku chuckled, "I have been training with him a lot lately. But soon I will become captain of the Konoha Police Force and I won't have as much time to train with him."

For the first time in two years since they had brought Sasuke home, Itachi felt joy. No more training?

"What about the academy? He just turned seven; he can just go there." Mikoto suggested. Itachi clenched his fists tightly.

"You're right. I'll take him there tomorrow and see about getting him enrolled."

After that, it was quiet. He assumed that they had fallen asleep by their slow paced, deep breaths and then Fugaku's snores. He tip-toed back to his room and crawled into bed. It had been years since he had last been around other children. How would they react to him? How would they treat him? Then he realized something...He honestly could care less.


	4. Her Purpose

Chapter Four: Her Purpose

Kisho watched as Akina tried to teach Mitsukai how to spell her name. _'How worthless...'_ He shook his head. Ever since the day Mitsukai had been brought back, Kisho had begun to dislike her more and more with each passing day. He felt no emotion towards his little girl at all. Once she had been playing in the backyard, racing around a tree, and got a splinter in her finger. She ran to him, tears in her dark blue eyes, and held out her finger in despair. He looked at her with annoyance, and then slapped her hand away.

"Go to your mother." He grunted and went back to reading his newspaper. Mitsukai's tiny brow furrowed with confusion. From the age of two until she turned five, that's how things were between them. He neglected her without remorse, leaving Akina to be both a mother and father to her.

One day Akina watched as Mitsukai tried desperately to gain her father's attention and love, and he promptly pushed her away. Her heart ached as she tried to imagine how Mitsukai felt. On her birthday, Kisho decided to work over time, purposely skipping the child's birthday. The next day Mitsukai asked him why he didn't come and he replied, "Because I don't like you. Why would I waste my time pretending to like you just because it was your birthday?"

Kisho turned his back on the child and left the room. Mitsukai watched him leave the room and a new emotion consumed her. Hatred. How could he treat her like that? What had she done to deserve such ill treatment? Akina's eyes widened in shock and she dropped a glass plate on the floor. It shattered and after it followed an eerie silence. Mitsukai stood in the same spot, still staring after her father, eyes flickering amber as she clenched her fists tightly at his sides. The joy that was usually on her face was replaced with an intense look of anger. Her eyes continued to flicker until they reached a dim solid gold. Suddenly, Mitsukai turned and faced her mother, eyes normal again.

"Mother, why doesn't father like me?" She demanded in a soft whisper. The pain resonated in her voice and struck Akina's heart strings. Akina wanted to tell the girl that her dad was just grumpy, or that he had a bad day; yet, she knew that Mitsukai was smarter than that. More than likely, she'd only asked just to see what her mother would tell her. Would she be truthful, or would she try to ease her daughter's pain by telling her a sugar-coated lie?

"Well," Akina cleared her throat, "If it means anything to you, he treats me the same way."

"But why?" Mitsukai looked away, then back at her mother.

"I-I don't know for sure...I just know that he wanted a son more than anything in this world." Akina could no longer bring herself to look directly at her daughter as she spoke, "For as long as he believed that you would be a boy, he was happy. He smiled, joked, even laughed. But the day you were born...that was the day he stopped. And he changed. Please, don't be mad at him, Mitsukai; it was hard for him to accept the truth."

Mitsukai only nodded, then turned and went to her room, leaving her mother to watch her walk away and wonder if she had done the right thing.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Mitsukai realized that her father did not love her. It was confusing but she naturally began to dislike him as well. She began to avoid him and often refused to talk to him whenever he asked her a question. Akina always felt the tension in the room when both were present but didn't care; she believed it was Kisho's fault that Mitsukai was beginning to act that way and made a habit to point that out to him whenever he chose to complain about Mitsukai.

Almost a week after Mitsukai's birthday, there was a knock at the front door. Kisho was out back but Akina was in the kitchen as usual cleaning. She went to the door to find a young blonde teen standing there looking back at her.

"Hello." He smiled briefly, and then tilted his chin up towards her, "Is your daughter here?"

Akina frowned, "Yes, but who are you?" Akina was captivated by his appearance. From the neck up he seemed to be a normal teenage boy...but once her eyes settled on his black cloak with red clouds, flags waved and alarms went off inside of her head.

He sighed heavily and mumbled, "Go figure." He straightened his posture and gave her a serious look. "I come from Boshoku. You remember us, yeah? We came for your daughter back when she was just a baby and we told you that we would come back for her when she turned five. We know that she just celebrated a birthday."

Akina froze when he mentioned the Boshoku and didn't hear anything else he said after that. Tiny feet padded softly on the wood floor behind Akina and came to a stop behind her. "Mother, who is this?" Mitsukai asked gently tugging on Akina's apron. The boy smiled when he recognized Mitsukai and held out his hand.

"Wanna go get some ice cream with me?" He asked pleasantly. Mitsukai twitched at the mention of her favorite treat and started to inch forward but Akina's outstretched arm anchored her daughter protectively by her side.

"I can't." Mitsukai pouted. "I'm not supposed to talk to strangers."

"Who's at the door?" Kisho asked, appearing behind them. Mitsukai tensed up and the boy noticed this. He watched as she clenched her fists and stared at the floor.

"He wants to take Mitsukai somewhere. He said he was sent by the Boshoku." Akina turned to Kisho. Kisho's eyes lit up with hope.

"The organization that said they'd be back to take her? They've come back?" He pushed his way to the front. "We did the experiment on her, yeah. We've come to take her back; we want to check on her and see how she's been since we last examined her." The boy was amazingly still as he waited for the couple's response.

"No, I'm not sure we should just let her leave with some stran--"

"Take her. She's all yours." Kisho pushed Mitsukai towards the boy. She lost her balance and could feel herself beginning to fall. In a blur of black and red, her fall immediately stopped. She looked up to see the boy holding her by her shoulders, keeping her from falling.

"Watch it, Little One." He smiled. Mitsukai felt her cheeks grow hot with embarrassment.

"Thank you." She whispered as he righted her.

"Don't mention it. I can't let you hurt yourself, yeah."

"Kisho, stop being so rough with her. Mitsukai, get back here." Akina attempted to reach for the child but the boy quickly grabbed her wrist, moving so fast that his sleeve barely moved.

"Your debt was paid in full. She belongs to us now. You're lucky she's allowed to live with you." He let go of Akina's arm and looked down at Mitsukai, "Let's go, Little One."

Mitsukai looked back at her mother and father. The look on her dad's face was one of pure joy. Her mother appeared to be ready to cry. The boy lifted her up and put her on his back. Akina bit her lip as Kisho held her firmly in place. The boy turned to leave and Mitsukai looked over her shoulder, wondering if she would ever see her parents again.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

As he'd suggested, the boy stopped at an ice cream stand and bought her a vanilla ice cream cone. "Hurry and eat it so we can keep moving." He whispered. Mitsukai nodded and tried her best to hurry up. As soon as she was done, he put her back on his back and carried her along, knowing that her small legs would never match his long strides; it would take them longer to get back to the warehouse if they walked side by side.

He got to the door, opened it, and went inside. It was dark and extremely quiet. She clung to him tighter as he felt his way down the hallway, muttering curses about them being "able to do everything but it's a challenge to keep certain areas properly lit so people could at least watch where the hell they were going."

Finally they came to a large room with a table and he pulled out a big chair and placed her in it. She looked up at him with wide eyes and he gently patted the top of her head. "Relax, Little One."

She nodded and sat back in the seat. As long as the boy remained beside her, she was quiet and well-behaved. Soon, a man with red eyes and piercings all over his face came into the room and dismissed the boy. She watched him go with tearful eyes as fear immediately set in. "Noooo!" Her whining irked the man in such a way that he crossed the room quickly and grabbed her arm.

"Be quiet. There is no one here to baby you." He spoke to her in a no nonsense tone and immediately she got quiet; however the tears kept flowing and she began to hiccup cry silently, body shaking with each quiet sob. The man rolled his eyes and left the room, then came back with the boy. "Calm her down before I do it."

The boy rubbed Mitsukai's back and she lowered her balled up fists from her eyes to look at him. She instantly clung to his arm and cried, "Please don't leave me with him. He's scary."

The boy looked at the man then bit his lip to keep from laughing. "She has a point. You look like something out of a horror movie. You have to remember she's only five. In a year or two, you won't be as frightening, yeah."

"If I had wanted your opinion, I would have asked for it. In the meantime, please shut up." He walked around to the other side of the table. "I see there's no point in trying to explain this to her. She has a very short attention span." He nodded towards her and the boy looked down to see her eyeing his nails.

"Why are your nails painted? Will you paint mine?" She stood in the chair and reached for his headband. "What's that? Do I get one?"

The boy leaned away from her and asked the man, "So who gets to train with her first?"

The man closed his eyes for a minute then slowly opened them, "Right now, Deidara, it seems she would work best under your advising."Deidara's eyes widened. "_Me?!_"

The man sighed, "Until we can recruit more members or at least other ninja to train with her, you'll be her sensei for now. It's been five years and we just added a new member yesterday."

"Really? Who?"

"His name is Zetsu. I heard about him and decided to check him out. He's very talented; however, I worry about his mental state."

"Meaning...?"

"You'll understand what I mean when you meet him. He should be here tomorrow." The man began to pace the room slowly and Mitsukai watched him curiously. "I might pair him with you. Or put him with Kisame since you and the child have a close bond."

Deidara looked down at Mitsukai and fought a smile. Maybe he would make a miniature clay statue of her...He could use it to awe the people as they marveled at its beauty, then blast them all away. _'Art is a blast...'_ "So, do you plan to examine her now or--"

"I suppose I should. Let's go the training room." He turned and walked towards two double doors. Deidara lifted Mitsukai up and out of the chair.

"Come on, Little One." He motioned for her to follow him and she did, keeping no more than a few feet between them. He briefly wondered what her real name was but decided to not ask; their leader intended to distance her from her family as quickly as possible so that she could focus fully on her training. If they called her by the name she was given, she would remember them and miss them. But if they could effectively get her to let go of them, then it would be possible to change their location without her making such a fuss about it. He looked back at her and tried not to smile as he watched he skip happily behind him.

"What's your name?" She ran and tugged on his sleeve.

"Deidara." He tried to keep the answer short and show that he was not interested in a conversation at the moment but that didn't stop her.

"Deidara? Well, my name is--" With this he quickly covered her mouth.

"Ssh, Little One. No talking." He whispered.

"But don't you want to know my name?" She asked, voice muffled from his hand on her mouth. He quickly removed his hand and shook his head no. Her feelings appeared to be hurt but he managed to look indifferent. They continued to walk until they came to a huge room that had padded walls, like those found in any ordinary gym. Their leader stood behind Mitsukai and stared at her. She stood completely still as he circled her slowly, still staring at her. Once he had made a full circle around her, he turned away. "She's fine. Go ahead and start."

Deidara blinked a few times. "Start _where_?"

"It doesn't really matter to me. The basics, I guess." He walked back through the doors that they had come through. Deidara just stared.

"Well, that was helpful, yeah. Thank you." He muttered sarcastically then turned to Mitsukai. "Okay, how about we start with something basic? Shadow clones."

"Shadow clones? What's that?" Mitsukai tilted her head to the side and frowned. He shook his head.

"Oh, boy..."

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

It took him an hour just to get her to even focus her chakra for usage. However, once she tapped into it, she couldn't turn it off. Suddenly, she was consumed with gold chakra and it began to swirl around her, creating a fierce wind. Deidara had to shield his eyes to try to keep a visual of her.

"What's going on in here?" Deidara turned to see Kisame and Orochimaru come in.

"I told her to focus her chakra." He shrugged, beginning to lose his balance caused by the swirling chakra.

"This must be the first time she's ever tapped into the demon's chakra supply." Orochimaru squinted to see. "If we don't stop her, she could kill us all."

Their leader and Sasori entered the room with the same quizzical looks on their faces. Their leader looked at Mitsukai and he frowned. "The seal we put on her must not be strong enough."

"But you said it couldn't be too strong or she wouldn't have been able to use the Houkou's chakra at all." Sasori looked at him.

"That's true...But I'm sure that if we teach her to control the demon's chakra, then she will become as she is meant to be--a weapon capable of mass destruction." He turned to Kisame. "Kisame, take care of the excess chakra."

Kisame nodded and pulled his sword from its holster on his back. In order to get through the wind, he had to charge at Mitsukai and once he was close enough, took one slow swipe, diffusing the chakra. Mitsukai opened her eyes and looked up at him. He watched as tears ran down her cheeks and her eyes faded from the shade of a new gold ring back to deep blue. As soon as all the chakra was gone, she bent over struggling to catch her breath. Her eyes closed and she began to fall over, but Kisame caught her with one hand and picked her up, able to cradle her with one hand as he put his sword, Sharkskin, over his shoulder to return it to its place.

Their leader sighed. "We have a lot of training to do. If that will be the result we'll get every time she taps into her chakra...This will take longer than I first estimated. For now, each of you will train with her focusing solely on getting her able to control focus and control the chakra. When she can effectively control it, then I'll assign certain people a type of jutsu to teach her. In the meantime, Konan and I will focus on recruiting more members. Deidara, take her home."

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Akina all but ran to the door when she heard the first knock. She didn't see the boy carrying Mitsukai; she only saw her baby asleep on his back.

"What did you do to her?" She whispered as he allowed her to take Mitsukai off of his back.

"Nothing bad. She's just a little tired is all, yeah. I have something to discuss with you and your husband." He didn't smile. Akina nodded as she Mitsukai rested her head on her mother's shoulder, her face turned to Akina's neck. She stepped back and led the boy to the living room where Kisho was watching TV.

"Oh, God..." Kisho complained as Akina sat down with Mitsukai, "Did you have to bring her back?"

Deidara's eyebrows rose with surprise. When he had come to pick her up, he dismissed the way her father acted towards her. However, seeing it again made him pause. "You don't want her, yeah?"

"No, I don't and I would be grateful if you would keep her instead of just dropping by every now and then." Kisho folded his arms.

Deidara cleared his throat. "Well, we've decided to start her training as a kunoichi."

"Are you people still on that?" Kisho stood and chuckled. "I won't tell you how to spend your money but you are _fools_ to insist she is worth something!"

Deidara blinked slowly three times before he decided to speak again. "We will send someone to collect her on days that the other academy students her age go to school, yeah. That way it will seem like she attends some sort of private school or has a private teacher. She will always be brought back around six in the evening." He turned and headed for the door.

"Nothing bad will happen to her, will it? Can I trust you to make sure she stays safe...doing whatever it is that you will have her to do?" Akina gently stroked Mitsukai's head.

"That I don't know for certain. I won't be the only one who will train with her--"

"Can _you_ promise me that _you_ will personally look after her? I understand what my husband has done but still she is my baby. I can't just let her go that easily. If I knew that someone else would care about her like I do...then I would be able to breathe just a bit easier." Akina's eyes pleaded for understanding.

Deidara looked away. This wasn't supposed to happen. Sasori said that all he had to do was tell them the circumstances and leave. Yet, he stood rooted where he was. He looked at Mitsukai and sighed. She, in so many ways, was like him. The only difference was that she had yet to learn her purpose for them. She was to become a weapon. A heartless, cold murderer that would help give the Akatsuki the additional power it needed to make itself known, meanwhile locating the other tailed beasts and help seal the stronger ones. She was nothing more than a mere tool to them; one that, with time and careful instruction, would become sharp enough to murder by thought alone. He knew what it was like to be alone. To be forced to do something against your own free will. With time he knew he would get used to being with the Akatsuki but it didn't help matters.

He finally brought his eyes up to Akina's and gave a slow nod. She sighed with relief then nodded as well. "So you'll return tomorrow then?"

"Yeah." He turned for the door.

"What exactly are you teaching her?" Kisho spoke up.

Deidara glanced over his shoulder without turning around, "If you ever find out, we would have to kill you." He disappeared out of the door.


	5. Burning Flames and the Voice Within

Chapter Five: Burning Flames and the Voice Within

In the beginning, Mitsukai only trained with Deidara and another man named Kabuto. Deidara focused on ninjutsu and didn't even bother to continue with her taijutsu training because she was just that bad at it. Since she was only five years old, she physically wasn't made for it since she had very weak muscles which were needed to deliver the power behind the blows. He could have simply just made her exercise her muscles to build the tone needed, but Deidara didn't like the idea of a five year old possibly being able to flip him across the room. Besides, long range techniques were better for them both anyway.

Kabuto was found by Konan because of his expert skills with medical jutsu. Of course, it was practical for Mitsukai to learn it since none of the other members knew that particular kind of jutsu and it was likely it would be needed in the future when their plans were carried out. Kabuto was a Genin who had yet to pass the Chuunin exams for whatever reasons he had. The leader of the Akatsuki didn't ask; he only offered to pay Kabuto to teach the child what he knew. Kabuto accepted the money, but to him, the real bonus was meeting Mitsukai. She was a very charming little girl. When Mitsukai first met Kabuto in the training room, the first thing she said to him was "You're cute!"

Kabuto laughed, squatted down in order to be able to look her in the eyes, and touched her nose with the tip of his finger. "You are too. What's your name?"

"Mitsukai. Wha--"

She was cut off by Deidara covering his ears and screaming at the top of his lungs, as if he were in pain.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU ASK HER THAT FOR?!!!" He shouted then ran out of the room screaming. Kabuto and Mitsukai just stared at the door for a moment in confusion then Mitsukai turned back to Kabuto.

"What's your name?"

"Kabuto." He stood and pushed his glasses up on his nose. To be just a child, she had an acute interest in the things around her, always analyzing anything she could get her hands on. Because of this, Kabuto was sure that she could handle his favorite jutsu. "Want to learn something cool?"

Her blue eyes lit up with joy and she hopped up and down, "Yeah!"

He chuckled and looked over at Kisame, "Can you bring an agent in here? She'll need someone to practice on."

Kisame only nodded and left. Mitsukai ran around his legs excitedly, "What am I gonna learn? What will it do?" Kabuto reached down and held her in place.

He stared at her for a minute. "Have you had candy today?"

She nodded quickly, "Deidara-sensei gave me some. He said it would shut me up."

Kabuto sighed, "What an idiot." He turned and waited for Kisame. "Any one can look at you and tell that you're sensitive to any kind of caffeine."

Mitsukai looked up at him, tilted her head to the side and asked, "What's caffeine?"

"Something you _definitely_ do not need in your new diet that I'm going to put you on." He shook his head. Kisame returned with a boy about Mitsukai's age, dressed in worn-out clothes.

"He's just a servant boy. Don't feel too bad if she accidentally kills him." Kisame sat back down in his chair and leaned his head back on the wall, preparing to doze off.

"Has she killed anyone yet?"

"Nope. Too sensitive to actually want to hurt someone." Kabuto looked at Mitsukai and realized it was the truth. She was too innocent to actually want to harm someone. "Well, let's get started. This jutsu is called Harmonic Tempo jutsu, and it puts your opponent to sleep..."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A few weeks after she first started training with Kabuto, Orochimaru was ordered to train with Mitsukai as well because she needed training on her physical speed. She moved too slow to effectively dodge any of Deidara and Kabuto's offensive attacks. Even when practicing with Sasori's agents she was often pinned to the ground rather quickly.

Orochimaru hated children, particularly this child because she was so giggly and had a very short attention span. If it weren't for their leader specifically telling him to, he would have been elsewhere when it came to his scheduled time with the brat. She asked too many questions at once, and didn't give him enough time to tell her to shut up between each one. Worse was her incredible ability to speak nearly sixty words a minute. He knew that if she could move as fast as she talked, then he wouldn't have to look at her. He had very little patience with her whenever he told her to focus her chakra and channel it into her feet. If she didn't do it fast enough, he would get angry and leave, telling Kisame he was done for the day.

One day Kisame had been called to do something else and wasn't able to monitor Mitsukai's chakra level. Orochimaru seized this opportunity to teach her an S-Ranked jutsu that he was sure they didn't want her to learn just yet.

"Come here, child." He ordered. She moved closer to him. He had to force himself to act as normal as possible to keep from scaring her, so he often bit his tongue to keep it in his mouth. This caused him to talk funny and at first Mitsukai always broke out in laughter but soon she got used to it and began to pay attention to him when he spoke. "I'm going to show you a new jutsu. I may need you to do it later when you get older."

He led her outside and told her to wait for him. He disappeared and came back minutes later with a rabbit that flailed around wildly. Her eyes lit up when he gave it to her. "Kill it."

Her eyes widened with horror. "Kill it?"

"Yes, kill it. Or I will. It makes no difference either way." His voice was soft yet it chilled her to the bone. She raised her hand to the rabbit's throat but stopped herself.

"I-I can't...I don't want to hurt it. I don't want to learn this jutsu..."

Orochimaru sighed. "Pitiful." He took the rabbit by its ears, pulled out a kunai and slit its throat. Blood gushed from the cut in spurts, spraying Mitsukai's white and blue top. She started to scream but he put a bloody hand over her mouth and told her to be quiet. She did as she was told but her eyes started to water up as she prepared to cry. He laid the dead animal at her feet and turned away, walking deeper into the forest. She stared at the rabbit. Its soft chocolate fur was now matted with dried blood. Its wide blue eyes were frozen open in fear, staring at nothing, looking straight ahead of it. She squatted down instead of kneeling to avoid her skirt from getting dirty and rubbed the rabbit's head.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Rabbit." She whispered, closing her eyes as more tears came.

"Stand up." She stood up quickly and turned to see Orochimaru behind her. He held another rabbit, this one golden yellow with white spots, in his hand by its ears. It was calmer than the first one. "I'm going to show you how to save the dead rabbit."

"You are?" She smiled at the thought of saving the pretty rabbit.

"There is a jutsu you can perform to revive someone who has died. There are special conditions that must be met. For example, the person's body who you want to bring back must be in fair condition when they died. It can't be too damaged or it won't work. Also, you must have a sacrifice."

She tilted her head to the side. "Sacrifice?"

"Yes, someone or something to replace it in death. There's a balance: for every person that dies, one is born. If you resurrect someone who has died, you must kill someone else to take that person's spot. Do you understand?"

She shook her head.

"Then I will show you." He gestured to the dead rabbit. "It's dead, isn't it?"

Mitsukai's smile faded. "Yes."

"This one is alive, right?"

She nodded.

"I'm going to show you how to make it live again by killing the living one." He held his hands up and slowly did the required hand signs, repeating the name of the hand sign for Mitsukai's sake. "Tiger, snake, dog, dragon, and then you clap once."

The living rabbit promptly dropped dead and seconds later the chocolate bunny twitched and sat up right, hopping away. Mitsukai's eyes were wide with awe. "Wow." She looked back at the other bunny and frowned. "Why isn't he moving?"

"Did you miss that whole explanation I just gave?" He asked in annoyance.

"No. Tiger, snake, dog, dragon. Clap once." She repeated. He smiled; she _was_ a quick study. Although she didn't have a clue as to what she was doing, all that mattered to him was the fact that she could do it. He went to find a black rabbit and returned.

"Now it's your turn. You do it." He smiled evilly. She squatted down and placed the rabbit next to the dead one.She focused her chakra like he had told her to do, then slowly did the signs. "Tiger, snake, dog, dragon. Clap once." She looked down and waited. Nearly two minutes passed and the rabbit still hadn't moved. To make matters even worse, Orochimaru noted that the third rabbit he had caught was dead as well. He turned, frustrated. "Let's go. Apparently my Impure World Resurrection jutsu is too advanced for your simple mind." He mumbled walking back to the building. Mitsukai glanced at the rabbits again then ran to catch up with him.Right as they reached the door and went inside, the golden rabbit shot up and ran off into the forest, leaving its sister behind.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

After six months, her growth was astounding. She had learned to use chakra to move faster, could control it, and even use it walk up the walls. Their leader was pleased with her abilities and they all learned that if she was given candy after each training session, she was easier to control and was a better student. It was apparent that with her photographic memory, they only had to tell her the hand signs for a particular jutsu only once, and she would remember it. However, if she ate the candy that Deidara often gave her behind everyone's backs, then she had to be told more than ten times before she was able to remember and do it correctly. The leader decided that they needed a variety of people for her to train against in order to observe different fighting styles and prepare for anything. They brought in different people from anywhere, who was willing to make money for fighting what they believed to be an ordinary five year old. While he watching Deidara and Mitsukai fight, Konan approached Paine.

"I've located someone worth taking a look at." She waited until he looked at her to continue. "He's more talented than the members we have now. The only problem is that he's only seven."

"Age does not matter." He gestured to Mitsukai who was dodging Deidara's punches fairly well, until he tripped her. "The younger, the easier it is to control them. Besides, Deidara was only eight when we recruited him. He acts like his life would be so much better without us. Without us, he'd still be roaming around by himself, blowing up random objects."

"I said this one is _stronger_. You won't be able to send Sasori and Orochimaru after him. He's very talented. It would be best if you just approached him with an invitation."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Days after her first session with Orochimaru, Deidara carried Mitsukai on his back, mad at the world. He wanted nothing more than to leave the Akatsuki now. How could they boast their greatness if they had to go by Boshoku in public to "prevent others from learning about them"? It made no sense to him and contradicted everything they had told him when they dragged him into their world.

Mitsukai was talking a mile a minute about the jutsu she had finally mastered, the shadow clone technique. "Deidara-sensei, may I show my mother what I learned today?"

He snapped out of his mental rant. "Huh? Oh, sure. Yeah. Whatever pleases you."

"Okay!" She smiled broadly and began to bounce on his back.

"Mitsukai, please don't do that." He complained. She froze and looked at the back of his head.

"Deidara-sensei, you said my name." She spoke quietly. His eyes widened then quickly narrowed in anger.

"If Kabuto had never asked you what your name was I still wouldn't know it."

"So it's a good thing that he asked right?"

"...No. It's bad enough I'm getting attached to you." He spoke slowly and carefully, picking his words with care. "Now that I know your name...it'll be very hard to part with you later, yeah. I was trying to keep you as far away as possible. It was working until your mother convinced me to make that promise and now...you're special to me. Out of everyone, I'd rather spend time with you...because you don't force me to do things I don't want to. They do the same to you, too. Maybe one day, you and I can free ourselves from this. What do you think?"

"It'll all be okay one day." She replied looking up at the sky. He wasn't sure if the girl had even been listening but he didn't care. She was right. He knocked on the door and her mother came to it.

"Hello, there."

"Hi, mommy." Mitsukai smiled as Deidara put her down. "Bye, Deidara-sensei."

"See you tomorrow, Mitsukai." He smiled and waved, then turned to leave. For the first time ever, Mitsukai thought she saw a mouth in the center of his palm. She quickly forgot about it when she turned to her mother.

"Mommy, do you want to know what I learned today with Deidara-sensei?" Mitsukai asked.

Akina's eyes widened. "Are you allowed to show me?"

"Uh-huh. Deidara-sensei said I could." Mitsukai nodded. Akina grabbed the child by the hand and led her into the living room. Kisho was seated on a pillow in the middle of the floor, oil lamps and candles lit around the room very close to him.

"Kisho, she's going to show us something they've taught her today!" Akina whispered urgently, knowing that he was never to be interrupted during his meditation. Surprisingly, his eyes popped open and he looked at them with honest interest.

"Really?" He waited and Akina nodded. "Well, let's see it then!" He and Akina scrambled for the couch after removing the pillow and placing Mitsukai in the spot where he had been seated. She became nervous knowing that her dad, whom had until now, believed that she only existed in his head and had made a point to pop aspirin in front of her to simulate taking medication for his "illusions". He leaned forward. "Go ahead, Mitsukai." His voice was gentle and his expression was one of love and encouragement. She tried to convince herself that he was only acting this way to see what she would do, but deep down inside she wanted his acceptance more than anything else. She nodded and held up her hands.

"Shadow clone jutsu!" Her hands were shaking so hard from nervousness that somehow, she confused the hand signs required to perform it with Kabuto's Harmonic Tempo technique. She watched in horror as her parents fell limp, and then began to snore. "No."

Trying not to panic, she thought hard about the release sign. She knew the name for it, but the hand sign wouldn't appear in her mind like every other jutsu did when she wanted to do it. She spun around quickly and knocked over a stand of Kisho's oil lamps. Oil sprayed across the room and as a result, everything caught on fire. Mitsukai screamed then looked at her parents, who were still sleeping. By the time it had occurred to her to go find help, the fire had reached the front door and the flames had reached everything around her in a thirteen foot radius...and it was reaching for her parents.

"No!!!" She ran over to them and shook them violently, screaming for them to wake up. But they wouldn't. Smoke blackened the air and it became harder for Mitsukai to breathe. Her movements started to slow down as the lack of clean air made her feel faint.

_'Foolish child,'_ she heard a deep voice whisper inside of her head, _'How can you worry about others when your own life is in peril? You cannot save them. You must save yourself...or you will kill us both.'_

She closed her eyes. Suddenly, a cool clean breeze blew on her cheek and when she opened her eyes, she saw her home in flames. Tears blurred her vision and her throat became tight and dry. She lost her ability to form words as she watched the neighbors surround the house, attempting to put out the flames. Her wide eyes captured every detail in heartbreaking slow seconds. Every detail of the flames burned into the back of her head and she pictured her parents sitting on the couch, as flames slowly melted off their skin. People rushed past her, shouting things her deaf ears could not hear. All she could hear was the violent roar of the flames as wood splintered and cracked from the heat.

_'Run...'_

She shook her head. How could she leave? Her parents needed her. They needed her help. She tried to move her feet but they didn't budge.

_'Run...run away...'_

Tears drenched her cheeks as the roof caved in and the flames jumped even higher than before. People around her screamed in fear and more people rushed to help. This was all her fault. Had she not been so nervous...Had she not wanted to show off...had she not been born like her father had said so many times...

_'RUN!'_

The voice barked. Gold eyes appeared in her mind along with the canines of a dog, causing her to jump in fear then turn and run away from her the blazing inferno she once called home. Her short legs and tiny feet carried her quickly through the village and out to the forest that surrounded it. About five minutes into the village, she felt light-headed and passed out from exhaustion.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sasori was tuning the joints on one of his puppets when two of his agents rushed in.

"Master Sasori, the Jinchurriki's home has burned down!"

Sasori looked at him then realized who he was talking about. "What happened?"

"No one knows for sure but her parents are dead...and she's missing." The other one responded calmly. Sasori stood up. He said nothing as he brushed past them and walked down the corridor. He almost ran into Deidara on the way.

"Whoa! Where's the fire, yeah?" He smiled.

"Mitsukai's house." Sasori replied, not at all amused. Deidara frowned.

"Huh?"

"Just come with me. Where's Leader-sama?"

"In his room. Why--"

"Just come on!" Sasori muttered and the two of them continued to walk. As predicted, he was in his room. He stepped out into the hall.

"Yes?"

"Mitsukai's house just burned down and her parents are dead. She's missing." Sasori spoke evenly.

He just stared for a moment then it finally dawned on him what Sasori had said.

"What happened?" He asked.

"No one knows yet."

"Get everyone out there. Sasori, find out what happened. Everyone else, spread out and look for her. We've spent too much time on her to just let go now." He said sternly. "I'll go get Konan and have her search too."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Orochimaru was missing, but everyone else was accounted for. Sasori went straight to the house with his agents to find out what happened. Zetsu said he would start on the east side of the village and check out the forest in that area. Kisame said he'd go through the village. Deidara made a clay bird and said he'd look from the sky. Hidan said nothing but chose to go through the village with Kisame, so they could start on opposite points and meet in the center.

"Do you have anything yet?" Their leader paced the floor.

Konan looked up, "No."

"Unbelievable." He paused. "And where is Orochimaru?"

"That I don't know either. But he's not too far...Why? Do you suspect he has something to do with the fire?"

"I suspect a lot about him. But I doubt he'd be willing to cross me."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

She woke up soaking wet from the rain. It was dark and she had no idea where she was or how she got there. She thought about it. She didn't even know who she was. The only clear thing she could remember where figures in black cloaks with red clouds. She stood shakily and looked around. There wasn't a clear direction to go. With no sense of direction, she decided to just go forward. Thunder clapped and lightning lit up the sky, and she was afraid. Her hair became matted with mud as she continuously slipped and fell in the mud.

After an hour she was hungry and thirsty. She felt like she was missing something, like she had forgotten something very important. Her chest felt heavy with sorrow, yet she didn't know why or what it was. She began to get colder and colder as her clothes became heavy with rainwater. Soon she had the chills. The cold began to seep down to her bones and soon she was unable to walk. She crouched down and fell into a sitting position against a tree. She was all alone...with no one to come for her...

The hunger pains became stronger and she began to cry. She was tired, cold, hungry, alone...and above all, she felt like she had lost something that had meant the world to her. Something was missing in her life, but she didn't know what it was. She felt dizzy again and tried to keep herself from falling over. In the end, she lost the battle and passed out.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A figure peeled itself from a nearby tree and looked around. Its eyes scanned the forest and halted when it spotted a little girl lying on the muddy ground at the base of a tree.

"Well, well, well...food." The darker side of it whispered with an evil grin.

"No, not food. This is the girl everyone's looking for." The lighter side scolded.

"I'm hungry. It's been a while since I've tasted human--"

"No! That's not what she's for. After this, I'll ask Sasori if he'll lend one of his agents to feed you." Zetsu whispered to himself. "But first let's signal Deidara."

Zetsu melted into a nearby tree; he then stood on top of it. The huge clay bird was just making a circle back when Deidara spotted Zetsu's odd shape on top of a tree. He flew down and jumped off of the bird.

"She's at the base of this tree." Zetsu whispered before disappearing. Deidara jumped down quickly and found the little girl, almost unrecognizable. Usually very tidy in appearance, she now was covered in mud. He reached down to pick her up and her skin was as cold as ice. He immediately checked to make sure she still had a pulse. He was relieved when she stirred under his touch. The rain had slowed to a drizzle so he took off his cloak and wrapped the little girl in it to try to keep her warm until he could get her back to the warehouse. He lifted her up, and held her close as he jumped back up the tree and onto his beautiful bird. Instead of standing, he chose to sit down with his package, not wanting to take the chance of hurting her.

At Boshoku headquarters, Kabuto examined her thoroughly. "She's fine," He leaned back and sighed. "Just extremely tired from the amount of chakra she used to run, dehydration, and not eating. She needs to sleep, wake up and drink plenty of fluids, eat something, and she should be fine."

"The question is if she's going to wake up or not." The leader asked impatiently.

"I don't see any trauma to her head." Kabuto looked. He held up two fingers on both sides of her head and a blue light emitted from his fingers. After a few minutes, her eyes fluttered opened and she looked around the room. At first she panicked until she saw a man wearing a black cloak with red clouds.

"Are you okay?" Kabuto asked, running a hand over her forehead to brush back her platinum blonde bangs. She nodded.

"What happened?" He asked. She gave a puzzled look, and then settled on a slow shrug.

Kabuto looked up at others. "I don't think she remembers."

"No, you think?" Deidara sighed. He crossed the room and looked down at her. "Who am I?"

She didn't answer. She looked around at everyone in the room then her eyes finally settled back on him.

"Do you know who I am?"

She nodded.

"Okay then tell me."

She shook her head.

"I give up. Call me when she starts to speak, yeah." He turned and left out of the room.

"Kabuto? What's wrong with her?" The leader asked.

"I'm not sure...she may stay like this for another day, week, year...or the rest of her life. It depends. However, I do believe it's related to mental trauma. She doesn't remember anything outside of us...I'd say that if it's related to anything that could remind her of her parents...she's blocked it out. I've seen this before in shinobi who come back from war." He looked up at them. "In a sense, we're all she knows."

The expression on their leader's face scared them all. It looked like he was...happy. "So, she doesn't remember anything? Anything we tell her she'll consider it to be true?"

"I guess you could say that--"

"Then from this day forward, _no one_ is to mention her parents, her past, or even call her by old name. We have the opportunity to erase all of that and mold her into the weapon we need her to be. Without her memory, she no longer knows of innocence and won't hesitate to kill." He moved closer to her. "Finally, years of waiting and now I finally get my reward. You new name will be...Shikyo."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Without her memory, her short attention span and curiosity for things around her disappeared, and Shikyo was able to concentrate and give her sensei her undivided attention. She had stopped speaking entirely, and instead chose to nod, shake her head, shrug, or her personal favorite, ignore the question or statement altogether. This often pissed Deidara off but inwardly, he felt bad for the kid. She had no recollection of who she had been before and he missed her. She used to laugh, giggle, and smile when she was around him, and now she chose to stare at some unknown point of the wall. She had become extremely obedient for a five year old and he did like that--no one ever had to tell her anything twice. With Kabuto's help, she was able to learn how to fight offensively and defensively. Her little fists actually stung a bit when she first fought Deidara and hit him in the jaw; as a result, he made up the excuse that he needed to go lay down since he wasn't feeling too good. In reality, he just didn't want to find out if she was able to flip him across the room yet.

Her jutsu skills sharpened considerably. With Deidara, she finally learned a few taijutsu moves but she still was a better long ranger fighter, so he taught her more techniques in that category. He showed her substitution and clone techniques which she mastered with ease.When she turned six, Kabuto showed her a chakra absorption technique that would come in handy for immobilizing an opponent. In order to perfect these new techniques, she was required to battle random ninjas everyday. At first she had trouble even being in the same room with these new people, but once Deidara and Kabuto convinced her it was okay, she always got down to business.They trained her to fight as if her life was on the line in every battle, and as a result, she ended up killing some of her opponents. At first she would use her speed and sneak up on them and stab them with a kunai in the throat like Orochimaru had shown her once with the rabbits. Soon she simply used her speed and the chakra absorption technique and then finished them off with a kunai.

It was astounding to them to see a little girl improve so much in a matter of months. Shikyo began to isolate herself from them. With every kill, she lost another piece of herself that she didn't even remember in the first place. They didn't realize [although it applied to them as well that killing can be addictive. The first time is always an accident, or either that rationalized in the murderer's head that it was necessary. After that, killing becomes easier and easier because all that is needed is a good reason in that person's head.

Shikyo had no problem with taking a life if her mentors deemed it necessary. She developed a brutal fighting style, using her innocent look to fool the opponent, and then killing them when they let their guard down.

"I heard she just killed another ninja. We'll have to leave this village soon; the people are beginning to get suspicious." Konan looked at him.

Paine stared out the window at the rain. It had been fun while it lasted. "And where do you suggest we go?"

Konan got quiet.

"Exactly. I've been thinking of places we could go but I'm not sure if we should move her around just yet. She may try to escape us. With her speed and skills, she could easily get away unless she stays with Kisame at all times; only his Sharkskin is able to control her chakra."

"I'm concerned that no one has been teaching her Genjutsu." Konan replied, "That is to be her most powerful offense yet I'm sure she doesn't know anything about it."

"We need to find a Genjutsu specialist then." Paine concluded.

"There is a very talented ninja in the Hidden Leaf village. They describe him as a 'Prodigy'. A genius of some sort."

"How so?"

"He graduated from the village Academy in less than a year. He's only eight years old and he's already a Genin."

"Hmm...eight? We could recruit him as we did with Deidara." Paine turned to her. "What's his name?"

"Itachi Uchiha."


	6. Hatred Turns the Heart Black

Chapter Six: Hatred Turns the Heart Black

In school, Itachi was alienated by the other children. Because he was so talented, some children became jealous of his advanced abilities and because the teacher favored him. They often made fun of him when his back was turned and the bolder ones didn't care if he heard them or not. Most of the children, however, admired him and held him with such a high regard that it reminded him of his clan, always pressuring him to do great, be great, in order to make _them_ look great. Those children would always boast about having Itachi in their class and soon others began to pay attention to him too. The girls would fawn over him, each hoping that one day, he would look their way and smile.

He vowed to never do such a thing to _any_ girl...ever. To him, they were brainless birds, always chirping about how cool he was, how cute he was, and how talented he was. If, for once in his life, someone would look past those things and see the person underneath the flashy exterior...and see his pain.

He decided that if he just isolated himself and kept away from the annoying children, then he could get out of the Academy and go back to being by himself.

One day someone sat down beside him in class. "Hi."

Itachi turned to see a boy who looked similar to him, looking at him. He didn't say anything.

"My name is Shisui Uchiha. I heard that you're related to me."

Itachi looked back ahead of him and nodded slowly.

"Good, because the rest of these kids aren't even worth talking to. My parents sent me here to become a great shinobi. Sure I like fighting, but I wish I had more of a choice in what I have to do with my life. What about you?"

Itachi froze. It was the first time ever that someone had actually stopped to ask him his opinion on something. He turned to Shisui, and gave a small smile.

"I wish they wouldn't use me to make them look better." He whispered, as if someone would hear him.

"Exactly." Shisui leaned back in his seat with his hands behind his head. "But in the end, I plan to benefit from it all more than them. I'll be this great hero and they'll all just be people I'm related to. I won't let them take credit for my hard work."

Itachi smiled at his words. It was as if someone finally understood what he was feeling and he now had someone to share it with. Throughout the year, Itachi and Shisui constantly conversed about their family and their abilities. They became very close and after a while, Shisui was like Itachi's big brother. They often trained together, and as a result, Shisui and Itachi graduated together before Itachi turned eight.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Itachi was slightly peeved when he found out he had to be placed in a team with two other Genin from his class. However, when they announced Shisui's name after his, he didn't find it too bothersome. The girl placed with them, Kimiko, was a certified chatterbox. Shisui and she would often get into arguments about this while Itachi and their sensei, Hiroshi, would watch. Once while Itachi was out training with his team, Fugaku had given Sasuke a kunai when he was three to see if he could hold it like Itachi had at that age. Of course he was good, but he wasn't as good as Itachi.

During training, Itachi and Shisui would work on activating their Sharingan while Kimiko worked on her taijutsu with Hiroshi. Itachi was the first of the two to activate it; however, Shisui mastered it before he did. Itachi often went home and sat in his room, staring at the wall while focusing his chakra to activate his Sharingan. Once he did, he would then focus on achieving each tomoe until he got all three. The next time he trained with Shisui, he would repeat the process. It was the day that Kimiko had been at home sick when Itachi mastered his Sharingan. Each tomoe did something that helped him in his fight against Shisui. The first tomoe allowed him to see Shisui's attacks coming even though he was moving very fast. The second tomoe allowed him to copy Shisui's movements and jutsu. The final tomoe allowed him to predict Shisui's next move.Itachi went home and told his father about this and then showed him his eyes.

"Hmm," Fugaku smirked, "Well done, Itachi. You truly are my son." However, Itachi didn't feel the joy that came with accomplishment. It felt like he did it for everyone else in his clan. He knew that he had relatives who were older than him who still hadn't even gotten the second tomoe, let alone all three. While watching Sasuke run around the backyard, he felt someone standing behind him and looked over his shoulder. Fugaku looked at Sasuke.

"He'll be like you one day, Itachi. A great shinobi. I want you to help him in every way you know how to achieve greatness and power."

"Okay." Itachi answered, staring out at Sasuke. One day, they would steal his innocence too.

"And now that you're a Genin, I want you to make sure you pass the Chuunin exams. Once you become a Chuunin, you can work at the police station with us."

"Okay." Itachi didn't move. When Fugaku finally went back inside the house, he sighed with disappointment. Was this the life he was meant to live? To be worked and used like common cattle? And for what? Before he was born, what did the clan do to make themselves look so good, and why did they suddenly believe that he was needed to make them look better? The pride of the clan...it was all they ever talked about and it sickened him. They depended on him to make them look good in front of everyone else. They pressured and pushed him to become more powerful...for their own benefit. What did they care about him? He was nothing more than a race horse to them, meant to work for them.

But he was tired of it. He didn't want to be their horse anymore. He resented them for their weakness. They all depended on an eight year old. How pathetic. He didn't want to be controlled any more, living by their stupid rules that centered around him playing follow the leader when, in truth, he was the leader. If they depended on him, wouldn't that mean that he was better than them? Like the village depended on the Hokage, they depended on him. Since they themselves were so incapable of making their clan look good with their own special skills and achievements, they needed him to do what they couldn't do themselves. He couldn't think of one thing they had done since he was born to contribute to the Uchiha pride. Nothing. Why must it be solely left up to him to make them look good? What about all of the other members of the clan? What was so special about him that made them so weak?

What was the purpose of contributing to the pride of the Uchihas? What could they do with the pride that they had built up over the years? They protected the village with their law enforcement; why was he needed? Had they done something that they felt they had to cover up with good deeds?

More importantly, what future is in _that_? He knew he wanted more out of life than to be a Chuunin or Jounin. When he got there, what would be his next step? In the village, a shinobi could only go so far in life. He knew he didn't want to be Hokage; he was tired of people depending on him. He wanted to go somewhere where the people around him were strong enough to take care of themselves. Where the people around him had goals and ambitions that didn't center around what he did with his life. Where the people around him cared nothing about pride, but gaining more power to rise above others in this world.

Then he looked back out at Sasuke, who was now chasing a butterfly. _'Foolish little brother...'_ He looked so happy, was so carefree, not knowing about the dangers of the world, about the people that he believed loved him when in truth they couldn't wait to turn him into a puppet to control and make them look good.He balled up his fists. He would find a way to fix this. He would gain control of his life again. He would be the one to dominate the ones that made him feel inferior. One day, one day, he would get his revenge.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A month before his eleventh birthday which was in June, Itachi passed his Chuunin Exam as expected. And as he expected, he didn't receive praise or recognition as any other child would. That following December, snow covered the village. Itachi sat in his room with Sasuke (who was then six), watching him hold a kunai over a doll as if he were in battle, then stab it. Immediately, Itachi jumped up to make sure no one was around. He remembered vividly how their father had reacted when he saw Itachi holding a kunai for the first time; he didn't want Sasuke to go through the same thing. At the same time, on the inside he swelled with pride thinking about how skilled Sasuke could be one day. He knew that in the end, it was very likely that Sasuke would be his only real challenge.

A week after seeing Sasuke stab the doll with the kunai, he was sent on an A-ranked mission with three other subordinates as the leader. They were to find information in regards to the whereabouts of a missing nin, Orochimaru. Unfortunately, they stumbled upon one of Orochimaru's hideouts and were ambushed by his followers. There was a barrage of shuriken thrown at them and Itachi quickly dodged them. He looked back to see that one of his teammates hadn't dodged the attack in time, and fell the ground, unmoving. _'If he had have been that much faster, he could have survived,'_ Itachi thought with disgust. Because he had been elected the leader, they depended on him to survive this mission.

Itachi killed many of them, but not before the rest of his team were killed. He stood in the bloody snow and looked around, searching for his comrades. A body moved. He ran to it and turned the person over, and discovered it was his teammate, Yasuo. He had known him since the Academy. "Itachi..." Yasuo choked on the blood that was filling his lungs and looked up at Itachi, getting weaker and colder by the second, "I...I don't want to die...no...no...Itachi, I'm sorry...I don't want to die..."

_'How pointless. To die this way, pleading for your life with your last breath...If you had have been stronger, faster, and more powerful, you would be fine. You were weak. You depended on me, like everyone else does.'_ Itachi wanted to say this to the dying boy, but couldn't get the words to come out. Soon Yasuo stopped breathing altogether and fell limp in Itachi's arms. It was pathetic. They had sacrificed their lives for what? Information that they never got. The mission was a failure and after an intense battle of twenty against four, he was the sole survivor.

"How tragic." He heard a man's voice say. He looked over his shoulder without turning around to see a man in a black cloak with red clouds standing behind him.

"Who are you?" Itachi carefully laid Yasuo's body down on the snow and stood, not bothering to turn around.

"These were some of the best ninja I could find, and yet, you killed most of them with one single stroke of your katana. I am _very_ impressed. Konan seriously underestimated you." Itachi looked at the piercings all over the man's face and narrowed his eyes.

"I hate repeating myself." Itachi stated in an even, lethal tone. The man nodded in acknowledgement.

"My name is Paine. I am the leader of the Akatsuki."I

tachi finally turned around. "The Akatsuki? 'Dawn'? Dawn of what?"

"A new world order. The world we live in now has become dull and old, molded after our yesterdays. It is time we moved forward and made a new set of rules, rules that grant us the power we deserve."

Itachi blinked several times, not seeming impressed or even interested with what he was saying. "What is your goal? What point is there for your organization?"

Paine smirked. "I usually don't tell people I haven't extended an invitation to our plans. That would be very careless of me."

"You must plan of extending an invitation or else you would not be here. You stated earlier that these were the best you could find...Are you saying that you targeted me?"

"Only to test your abilities, to see what you were capable of. I needed to see for myself if you were really as talented as I was told you were. As I said, I am, to say the very least, impressed." Paine stepped a little closer to see Itachi's face better.

"How did you know that I would come?"

"I have spies within the Hidden Leaf. Those with positions of power that can influence the Hokage to make certain decisions. I simply sent a message that someone heard that their beloved rouge ninja was lurking about in this area and my spy made the suggestion that a team be dispatched to check it out. The odds of Orochimaru actually being here would be slim so a team of Chuunin would be enough for an information seeking mission. However, if the team were to come across any of his followers, they should have a leader capable of leading them in combat. I told these ninja to wait for the team here."

Itachi's eyes widened slightly with anger. He had been manipulated. He looked down at Yasuo. "Why would I want to join your organization?"

"Because we have long term goals."

"Which are?"

Paine sighed. He figured he would have to tell the inquisitive child the truth in order to persuade him to join them. "We plan to dominate the countries of our world."

Itachi frowned. "And exactly how do you plan to accomplish such a thing?"

"I've created a three step process. First, we obtain a large amount of money support our organization. Then we set up a mercenary group loyal only to the Akatsuki. To build our reputation, we plan to accept any mission below the usual cost and operate off of excess funds earned in the first part of our plans. Because there haven't been any wars in years, the established shinobi villages such as Hidden Leaf can't afford to charge such low prices, which would eventually lead the smaller countries to hire us over the more expensive shinobi villages. We plan to capture the legendary tailed beasts and use them to secretly start wars and immediately quell them, which would solidify our reputation and convince every country to depend on us. Without any business, the other shinobi countries would eventually collapse due to the lack of funds. When we become the only major shinobi force in existence, we would be able to easily conquer the other countries."

Itachi stared at the man. He had to admit to even himself that it was a well planned goal and he could see it working. "I'm not interested."

"Of course you are. Would you rather allow your family to continue to use you?" Paine whispered. Itachi froze and turned his head slowly back towards Paine. "Yes, I know a lot about you, Itachi. I believe that the Akatsuki is the answer for your problems. Your skills are needed for us to reach our goals. However, we won't depend on you like your clan does."

"How do you know about my clan?"

"I've been observing you _personally_, Itachi. Your family acts as if you're nothing but a trophy to them, a living symbol of their pride. They belittle you and make you seem inferior to them, when it is you who is superior to them. They are beneath you, and you know that. They depend on you to give them their pride. 'The pride of the Uchiha', they call you."

"That is enough." Itachi took a step forward.

"Itachi, if you sever the tie between you and your clan, between you and your village, then they won't have pride any more, now will they? Do you see how much power you have? They are keeping you from realizing your potential, from realizing exactly how much power you have over them. They work hard to control you so that you will never realize that _you_ have more power than they will ever have. Your decisions, your actions mean the world to them because if you as so much put a toe out of line, it will tarnish their reputation."

Itachi abruptly stopped. He had never looked at it that way. They were holding him back. They were keeping him from determining his true greatness.

"Itachi, we seek power. We have a goal and we are working to achieve this goal. Tell me, what is it that your clan is working towards? What are their goals? Or do they plan to rely on you for the rest of their lives, for the rest of your life? Do they plan for you to die of old age, to die while solely contributing to the 'pride of the Uchiha'? Are you merely a puppet for them, Itachi? To manipulate into doing their biddings? Into doing what they cannot do for themselves? With them, you have no real power. They limit you and your outstanding abilities. They've taken control over your life. With them, they give you meaningless missions in which you watch your weak comrades die," He gestured to the bodies surrounding them, "Tell you to train your weak little brother, tell you to do this, to do that...You can take back the power they've taken from you, Itachi. It is not theirs to keep. Join us, Itachi. With us, there are no rules, no routines, and no laws. With us, you can dominate others; you can make them bow to you. Just give it some thought."

With that, Paine disappeared. Itachi stood all alone in the snow, the ground littered with bodies as Paine's words echoed in his head.

_'They limit you and your outstanding abilities...'_

Something dark and evil awoke within Itachi as he allowed hatred for his clan to seize and consume his heart. Blackness consumed his pure heart until it became a hollow, emotionless void in his chest; he then had a black hole for a heart, which sucked up all of his emotions and made them disappear. As of then, the clan meant nothing to him. They had might as well had been dead. Tears of rage leaked from the corners of his eyes and wet his cheeks. The only two people who hadn't used him were his best friend, Shisui, and his little brother, Sasuke. However, if he didn't do something, Sasuke would be targeted next. He had to be the big brother Sasuke needed in order for Sasuke to become stronger and be able to keep people from using him. To keep people from hurting him as he had been hurt. Itachi wiped his eyes and moved forward, vowing to never shed another tear or show any sign of weakness again.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

At the funerals, Itachi spoke nice words to the people about those who he had led into death. He touched the hands of mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, saying, "I'm sorry for your loss."

Except he wasn't. All he could see when he looked at their faces, paled with death, was how quickly they were slain...all because they were too weak and depended on him instead of themselves.He saw Yasuo choking on his own blood and begging for his life. Weak, slow, and pitiful. He looked at their dead bodies and remembered out of the twenty four ninja that battled that night, he was the only one left standing. It almost made him smile. He had been so much better than them.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Itachi waited in the forest outside of Konoha, the crisp cold wind blowing his hair around his face.

"So you received my message?" Itachi turned slowly to find Paine standing on a tree limb.

"I accept your invitation." He replied in a low, even voice. He could see that Paine was pleased with his response.

"A very wise decision. I promise that you won't regret it." Paine jumped down and held out his hand. "This is yours. Do not lose it. You don't have to wear it until you leave your village for good. It is how we will keep in touch. It has other uses but we will discuss them at a later date."

Itachi only nodded then Paine promptly disappeared. Itachi opened his hand and saw a ring.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Itachi wasn't surprised when Fugaku informed him that ANBU was interested in him after hearing about the ambush and being the sole survivor. He didn't care for ANBU or anything else at that time. Sasuke ran into the room and tugged on Itachi's shirt.

"Brother, will you please train with me today?" Sasuke's big eyes held hope that Itachi would say yes today. Unfortunately for Itachi, he had nothing else planned that day so he had no choice but to say yes. He and Sasuke headed out to a clearing near the outside of the village.

"It's no good if you don't do it right. Do it again, Sasuke, better this time." Itachi hated how Sasuke fumbled with the hand signs for the different techniques and slow he performed them. They practiced for hours until Sasuke pushed himself too far and passed out from the amount of chakra he used. "Just pitiful." Itachi sighed as he picked Sasuke up and put him on his back to carry him home. About halfway home, Sasuke woke up and looked around, then closed his eyes again after realizing where he was.

"Brother, I'll walk." Sasuke mumbled.

Itachi turned his head slightly to look over his shoulder, "Don't push yourself." Sasuke noticed the police emblem on the building had their family crest on the center of it. Itachi saw the look on Sasuke's face. "What's wrong?"

"This is where Father works, right?"

Itachi followed Sasuke's gaze and he saw the emblem. "Yeah, it's the Konoha military police headquarters."

"I've been wondering about this for a while, but why is the Uchiha clan's crest on the military police's emblem?"

Itachi looked surprised, "You noticed?"

"Of course!"

Itachi took a minute to figure out a way to explain it to his little brother, "Simply put, the ones who established the police force were the Uchiha clan's ancestors. And that is why our family crest is on the symbol. Since long ago, the Uchiha clan has been responsible for enforcing and protecting the village's public order." Inwardly, Itachi hated this. It was why the clan had put so much faith in him. Everything that he did was for an unappreciative village. "The Uchiha crest also serves as a symbol of our clan's pride. Now the clan has become smaller, but most of us work here, contributing to maintaining public order. The only shinobi who can enforce the laws...are superior ones."

Sasuke's eyes widened, "Wow! Father is amazing! Brother, are you going to join, too?"Itachi bit the side of his cheek. "Maybe..."

"You should! When I grow up, I'm going to join the police force, too! And Father will come to my entrance ceremony tomorrow. It's the first step towards my dream." Sasuke chatted excitedly.

"Yeah..." Itachi whispered remembering that he had his first meeting with the Akatsuki and ANBU the next day. It meant that he would have to miss Sasuke's ceremony...

Itachi reached the fence leading to their clan's neighborhood and was slightly surprised to see Fugaku leaning on it. "You're late. What were you doing?"

Sasuke whispered, "Father..."

Fugaku lifted off of the fence and turned his back on them, "I have something to tell you. Hurry and come."

They followed him in silence back to their house and into the family room where they all sat on their knees. Itachi and Sasuke sat side by side while Fugaku sat on the opposite side facing them. He chuckled, "As expected of my child, to come this far only half a year after becoming a Chuunin...for tomorrow's special mission, I've decided to come along."

"Tomorrow?" Sasuke whispered to himself. _'But my entrance ceremony is tomorrow...'_

"If you succeed on this mission, your enlistment into ANBU will be official." Fugaku closed his eyes then opened them, his Sharingan activated. "You understand, right?"

Itachi knew that the mission was some sort of test to make sure he had the skills necessary to join. It wouldn't be a problem for him. His problem was that if his father tagged along, he wouldn't be able to go to the Hidden Rain village immediately afterwards for his meeting with the Akatsuki, and because the villages were so far apart, he would need all the time he could afford to travel back and forth without seeming suspicious. "There's no need to worry about it. More importantly..." Itachi looked over at Sasuke, giving him his cue to speak.

"Um...Father...Tomorrow's my--"

"Tomorrow's mission is not only important for you, Itachi, but for the Uchiha clan as well. You will be the first to ever join the ANBU." He cut Sasuke off, not even noticing his other son was in the room. Itachi loved this. His presence always overshadowed Sasuke. He looked over at Sasuke, whose whole posture had sunk with sadness and disappointment.

"Looks like I'm dropping tomorrow's mission then."

Both Sasuke and Fugaku looked at Itachi with surprise."Have you lost your mind?! You know how important tomorrow is!" Fugaku yelled.

"Tomorrow, I'll be attending Sasuke's entrance ceremony at the Academy." At this Sasuke smiled. "It's required for a relative to attend the ceremony. Father, you've received the notice, right?" Itachi knew he had Fugaku cornered. If he really wanted Itachi to go on the mission, then he had no choice but to attend Sasuke's ceremony. Fugaku stood.

"I understand. I'll go to the Academy." He leaves the room and Itachi and Sasuke follow him out. Itachi looked down and noticed a big purple bruise forming on Sasuke's leg when they had been training."Be sure to keep that left leg iced."

"Okay." Sasuke replied watching his older brother walk away, leaving him behind. _'Brother...you're so far away...'_

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The Next Day

Sasuke stood in line with the other kids as the Third Hokage gave his speech for the students. Sasuke looked over his shoulder to look for his father and found him, appearing to be sleeping while he stood still. Sasuke was disappointed that he father was not paying attention.

_'If I were Itachi, I bet he would pay attention...'_ He thought bitterly. Later after the ceremony, an old teacher of Itachi's spotted Fugaku and the two of them began to reminisce about Itachi's younger days and how much of a genius he was. Sasuke barely paid attention to them."Sasuke." Sasuke snapped to attention when his father called his name.

"Yes?"

"Become a shinobi just like your brother."

Sasuke dropped his gaze to the ground again. "Okay." Deep down inside, Sasuke resented his brother for taking the spotlight constantly.


	7. The Prodigy Meets the Weapon

[Author's Note: At this point, Shikyo (or Mitsukai) never speaks out loud. If she has something to say, it'll be in her head only, coupled with a certain facial expression. And while I have your attention, for those who don't know, Konan is the infamous "unknown member". Yes, there's a girl amongst the Akatsuki. Go look it up. 

* * *

Chapter Seven: The Prodigy Meets the Weapon

The next day Itachi went to the ANBU headquarters early in the morning around six o'clock. He was given the mission details and sent on his way. All he had to do was recover a scroll that they had hidden amongst booby-traps within the Forest of Death. He looked at the map they had given him. It would be easy. He found it within seven minutes then headed off for the Hidden Rain village.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

At noon, Deidara told Shikyo to start her shuriken target practice. She grabbed her bag of kunai and followed Deidara and Kisame to the training room. She grabbed six and went to the middle of the room and closed her eyes. With a burst of chakra, she ran to the end of the room and threw kunai at the targets, hitting six out of nine in the center. Her chest heaved with deep breaths as she focused on slowing her breathing down. Deidara tossed her more and she repeated the process, running from end to end of the room hitting her targets along the way.

"Shikyo." She stopped to find Kisame standing at the door, motioning for her to come. She put the last kunai in her shuriken holster on her right thigh and followed him, Deidara behind her. Kisame led them to the meeting room, where their leader waited with Konan and a younger boy. Kisame stepped to the side to allow the two to face each other.

"Itachi, this is Shikyo, the one whom I told you that you would teach Genjutsu." Their leader nodded in Shikyo's direction. Itachi's black eyes gave her a once over, appraising her. Itachi and Shikyo stared at each other for a long minute, and then Shikyo quickly averted her gaze.

_'She's just like Sasuke. Weak.'_ Itachi thought, narrowing his gaze. _'Her hair stands out; its color is too unique. She will never have the ability to blend in as long as she keeps her hair that color. However, she could have the potential to be powerful if trained properly. Even though she's only ten years old, she has pretty good muscle tone. Especially in the legs. She doesn't look like she would be any good at taijutsu. I can tell that she was trained to be a long range fighter, just like her sensei. What good that'll do her. Her main focus will be Genjutsu. If she can't get her opponent to sit still long enough, then how would she be able to use it? She looks light, so she must be pretty fast, which explains the muscle tone in the legs. The quickest way to immobilize her...'_ Itachi closed his eyes and smirked, then opened them revealing his Sharingan and gave a slight nod in her direction.

Shikyo returned it, not taking her eyes off of him. _'He has the eyes of a demon. He's nearly half a head taller than me. Raven black hair, red eyes...Yes, definitely evil...yet powerful and very skilled. I can sense his chakra. Those lines on his face...They make him seem so much older than twelve.'_ She lowered her gaze and fought to keep a straight face as she felt her cheeks grow hot. _'He's also kinda cute, too. But he is supposed to train me. He is nothing more than an instructor. Someone to help me become stronger.'_

"I need to make sure you can handle her, Itachi." Leader-sama passed between them and went back towards the training room. "All of you, follow me." They did as they were told. "Itachi, Shikyo. Take your fighting stances."

Shikyo looked at Leader-sama in confusion. _'Fighting stances? Surely, he doesn't want us to fight each other? What need is there to--'_

"Hurry, Shikyo. Itachi has a schedule to keep." Leader-sama sat down in a chair. Shikyo turned to Itachi. Several minutes went by before she decided that since he refused to make the first move, she would have to go with offense. Shikyo knew that he expected her to use a long range attack which had to be the reason he was waiting for her to make the first move.

_'If he wants me to move, then I'll make a move.'_ She pulled a long sharply pointed chop stick out of her hair that she was used to keep it pinned up in a bun along with the kunai she had in her holster and looked at him. Without hesitating, she dashed over to Itachi at an incredible speed and swung at him. He was caught by surprise, having anticipated a long range attack first from her. However, he quickly stepped out of her way, and as she flew past him, his elbow connected at the base of her skull, and she hit the floor semi-unconscious. Deidara and Kisame both stood in shock. It had been the first time in months that someone other than them had been able to lay a hand on Shikyo. Itachi stood beside her and looked down at her.

"Pathetic." He said in an even, emotionless tone. "She has a lot of training to do if you want her to be able to use Genjutsu effectively." He barely turned his head towards Leader-sama. Leader-sama only nodded. Shikyo drifted in and out of consciousness until finally her brain stopped spinning. Instead of trying to get up, she allowed herself to lie there until the pain had fully subsided.

"Very well." Leader-sama stood. "From now on, Itachi you will be her sensei."

"What?!" Deidara was offended. How could he just take that title away from him?

"Deidara, be reasonable. She is to be a Genjutsu specialist herself one day. Wouldn't it be fitting for her to mentored by someone with exceptional Genjutsu skills?"

"I haven't seen him use any Genjutsu." Deidara complained.

"There was no need to use any of those techniques on her." Itachi stared at Deidara. Deidara scoffed and stalked out of the room angrily.

"He'll get over it." Kisame smirked.

"Now, let's discuss more serious matters." Leader-sama looked at Itachi. "Konan, Kisame. You two may leave now." He waited until the pair had removed themselves from the room before speaking. "Well done, Itachi. I am more confident than ever that you are capable to handle her. Shikyo, can you stand up?"

Upon hearing her name, she twitched then, with a strained effort, came to her feet. Her balance was off and she wanted nothing more than to go lie down for a while.

"It would be best if she was allowed to rest. If she pushes herself after that, she could pass out." Itachi warned.

"She seems fine to me." Leader-sama looked at her. Shikyo swayed a bit, and then began to fall over. Itachi caught her before she hit the ground. "Never mind. Since our headquarters is a bit far for you to try to travel everyday, I propose that you only train with her twice a week. Trips out of the country everyday would be hard to pull off without raising suspicion, but to also be a well known shinobi? I don't want to push it."

Itachi nodded, still holding Shikyo.

"You can take her to her room, and then leave when you're ready."

Itachi threw Shikyo over his shoulder and stood. "Before I go, I have a concern."

"Yes?"

"Her hair. It can't stay this color. It's too unique and stands out."

Leader-sama stood and stepped closer to Itachi with a sigh, "Unfortunately, we've tried to rectify that. It seems that color is a representation of the Bijuu within her. We've tried to dye it black, but whenever she taps into her chakra, it almost literally burns away."

"Bijuu?" Itachi repeated. _'She has a demon in her?'_

"That I will explain to you another day. You don't have the time today."

Itachi paused. "Another concern would be being able to track or identify her should she escape."

"What do you mean?"

"We need a way to identify her should she manage to get away from us. I can't promise that I'll always be able to catch her. With time, she'll improve greatly."

"And with what do you suggest we use to identify her?"

"I believe a unique tattoo would be enough. Something we can all remember should we ever see it."

"Then I'll find someone who can do that for us. You'll have to be here of course to help decide what the tattoo should be."

"Okay."

"Kisame's room is the first door on your right when you turn the corner. Tell him to show you where her room is for future reference." Leader-sama pointed him in the direction then turned and went the other way. Itachi went to the door and knocked. It opened promptly and Kisame towered over Itachi.

"What?"

"Leader-sama wanted you to show me where her room was." Itachi looked him in the eye. Kisame looked at Shikyo and smirked."It's been a while since I've seen her handled so easily. It actually feels good to know that she isn't as powerful as we think. Come this way." Kisame led the way down the hall. "I assume since he wanted you to know where she sleeps, he intends for you to be staying here soon. The easiest way to find her room is too look for the door with a white owl on it. Her room would be to the right of that door. The owl symbolizes Deidara's room. Because he was her sensei, she was placed next to him. There is a vacancy on the other side of her, so I assume that will be your room. Across the hall from you three would be Orochimaru; however, he's been acting very strange lately. I don't think the Leader will keep him around for much longer."

Itachi said nothing and practically ignored everything the man was saying. It was hard to get past his looks. For starters his skin was blue. He couldn't think of _one_ person whose skin color resembled something out of a child's paint set. His eyes were white and the pupils were very small. The gills on his cheekbones also had his attention. Lastly, his teeth concerned him. What in the hell was this man? Kisame opened the door to Shikyo's room and they walked in. Itachi laid her down on the bed carefully and turned to leave.

"When will you be back?" Kisame asked. Itachi barely looked over his shoulder at him.

"In three days." Then he left. By the time he got home, it was nightfall.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

At the Academy entrance ceremony, Sasuke was excited. Knowing that his father had come to see him gave him a strong sense of pride. He looked over his shoulder and scanned the crowd for him, hardly hearing the Third Hokage's words. When his eyes finally settled on Fugaku, his heart dropped in his chest.

Fugaku didn't even seem to be paying attention, his arms folded across his chest, head down, and eyes closed. Sasuke felt that he wasn't even interested in what was going on. That he didn't care about how important the day was for Sasuke.

After the ceremony, Itachi's old teacher spotted Fugaku and Sasuke and stopped them. As he and Fugaku began to speak about Itachi's attendance at the Academy and how much of a genius Itachi was, Sasuke let his mind wander to tune them out. "Sasuke."

It had been a while since they had first started talking and by then Sasuke was well into a daydream. He snapped out of it and looked up at his father.

"Become a great shinobi like your brother, Itachi." He said. It sounded like an order to Sasuke.

"Okay." Sasuke hung his head. _How does Itachi manage to steal the spotlight from me on my special day? He's not even here...'_

Fugaku left and Sasuke was ushered by the teachers to his class.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Later that night after his first day, Sasuke was on his way to the kitchen to get something to drink when he heard his father's voice. He looked to find the silhouette of two figures illuminated by candle in the family room, both sitting on their knees. Fugaku chuckled, "As expected of my child, ANBU has accepted you. I knew in my heart I could count on you."

Sasuke's head hung. He had yet to hear those words from his father. Was it because he spent so much time with his mother as a child that made him seem too weak or not important enough when compared with Itachi? True Fugaku wasn't very affectionate with his children, but he hardly paid any attention to Sasuke. He was so wrapped up building a career for his older son that he often forgot that Sasuke existed. Maybe if he trained and became stronger, then Fugaku would become interested in him. Maybe if he did exactly what Fugaku kept telling him, become a great shinobi like Itachi, then maybe for once in his life he could steal the spotlight from Itachi. He still saw Itachi as his brother, but now, he would also be his rival.

The next day Sasuke went out to train in the woods by himself like he had done so many times with his older brother. He jumped into the air and threw kunai in various directions, then threw kunai at the previously thrown kunai to knock the in the path of their targets then landed on his feet. Unlike Itachi, Sasuke only managed to get a few of them right on target and instead of landing gracefully, he lost his balance and fell flat on his face.

"At this rate, I'll never catch up to Brother." He panted lying on the ground looking up at the missed targets. He kept trying until eventually he got tired and passed out.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sasuke shuffled his sore body down the porch heading for his room. Mikoto saw her baby boy and called out to him. "Sasuke, wait!"

He stopped at turned to her, face scratched up and slightly bloody. She sighed. It was supposed to be his day off from school and she had been hoping that he would want to spend time with her. As she gathered medical supplies, she felt her heart start to sink with the realization that her husband had taken another son from her. She could tell that sometimes the attention Itachi received often annoyed Sasuke and now, like every other Uchiha she knew, in his mind he was competing against his own brother.

"Geez, you need to rest on your day off from the Academy!" She said as she swabbed the scratches with ointment. There's no need to overdo it." She smiled. Once she had tried to do the same for Itachi and he only brushed her hands away, saying it was nothing. She looked at Sasuke and was glad that somehow, he was still her little boy.

Sasuke stared at a spot on the floor, thinking about how he still hadn't managed to hit every target. "Brother...He graduated from the Academy in only a year."

She looked him in the eyes and paused when she briefly saw Itachi staring back at her, then the looked softened and Sasuke looked like himself again. As she applied bandages to his face, she spoke softly. "The times have changed since then." She whispered. "And he is special."

Even though she had been referring to Itachi's intellect, Sasuke thought she meant he was more important. _'As expected of my child, ANBU has accepted you. I knew in my heart I could count on you.'_ He heard his father whisper to his older brother in his head. He would surpass his brother. He would hear those words from his father one day. He promised himself that he would.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

At the end of the first week of training with Itachi, Shikyo was able to kill her opponents with Genjutsu. Itachi knew that she could create her own Genjutsu attacks and maybe even other kinds of jutsu that revolved around the mind, but that would take time and intense training that couldn't take place at the present because of his work with ANBU. Instead, he told her to use the Harmonic Tempo jutsu to put them to sleep then use the Hell Viewing Technique to get inside their head and kill them using their worse fears against them. This was highly effectively since the results were usually death by heart attack and there was no trace of murder. At the end of the first two months with Itachi, she had killed seven of Sasori's agents.

Also, he trained her to become even faster. By running every in every training session, Shikyo was able to increase her speed up to seventy miles per hour using her chakra, and fifty without it. Because she was moving so fast, to the normal human eye she was nothing but a blur and a gust of wind. However, to Itachi with the aid of his Sharingan, he could easily keep an eye on her. Leader-sama took this information into consideration and determined that later, when he paired them all up and sent them out on missions, he would have a one three man team especially for Shikyo. Itachi would be able to see and catch her should she manage to escape and Kisame could use his Sharkskin to absorb her chakra to immobilize her. They would make a great team when it came to handling her.

Deidara often complained about the way Shikyo acted saying that she had absolutely no personality now and Kisame would always tell him to shut up. Kisame tried to explain to Deidara whenever he complained that it was better for her to be like this because it was easier to control her. Once, after Deidara had stormed out, Itachi asked Kisame how Shikyo used to be.

"Hmm," Kisame sat back, keeping his eyes on the girl, "She was your typical five year old little girl. She'd bounce around the room and barely pay attention to what anyone tried to tell her. That's why Leader-sama told Orochimaru he couldn't train with her anymore because he has no patience, especially for a child. That and we found out he took her outside and she came back covered in blood. All he told us was that he was trying to teach her some jutsu and she didn't know the name of it so he was banned from training with her." He sighed. "She was just so happy and innocent...until her parents died."

Itachi shifted slightly, "What happened? Did they die in a battle or something?"

"No. In a fire. Her parents were found leaning against each other on the couch, as if they had been sleeping. She was found in the woods outside of town. I believe Orochimaru had something to do with it. We don't ever see him anymore. Makes you wonder what kind of secrets he has."

"The death of her parents is what caused her to be like this?" Itachi watched her as she sat on the floor and meditated, her body illuminated with blue chakra as gold chakra created a small circle around her. Kisame nodded. "Then it isn't really such a bad thing."

"No, it wasn't. Leader-sama believed that her parents were holding her back. She had the potential to be great even before we started training her. It was them that kept her innocent, made her unable to want to be powerful and unable to harm another human being. Once they died and the memory of them was erased, this is what she turned into."

Itachi watched Shikyo as the wheels in his head began to turn. _'Her parents held her back...Just like with Sasuke. He could become powerful, probably even more so than me, if it weren't for our clan. Only one person pushes him like he needs to be; everyone else says he's fine as he is. Our father only has the intention of making us his puppets...Our family hinders his growth.'_

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Deidara hated Itachi. He hated how everyone made such a huge fuss about him as if he were some sort of god. He was human like the rest of them, excluding Kisame, Zetsu, and Kazuku. He was still angry that they had taken Shikyo from him to give to the brat when he had doing just fine with her. He was tired of being used. He turned away from watching Shikyo practice with Itachi and went to find the Leader.

"I want out." Deidara said evenly when he found Leader-sama in the kitchen, getting something to drink.

"Out of what?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Of the Akatsuki." Deidara's sea green eye flashed angrily, while the other was now hidden by his bangs.

Leader-sama chuckled. "Who's made you mad now?"

"It doesn't matter. I quit." He turned to leave."You know it isn't that easy, Deidara. If you want to leave, you'll have to fight your way out." Leader-sama took his glass of tea with him as he left the kitchen; Deidara followed.

"Then who do you want me to fight?" His facial expression was serious.

"Oh, I have just the person." He smiled darkly. He entered the training room. Kisame, Hidan, and Sasori were watching Itachi and Shikyo exchange blows and so far, Shikyo had yet to hit Itachi. Leader-sama took a sip of his drink. "There's your opponent."

Deidara's eyes widened. "You can't be serious! I can't fight her. What if I seriously hurt her, or--"

"Not her, you moron. Itachi." It seemed the whole room came to a sudden stop.

"Itachi?" Deidara repeated. Everyone looked at them.

"Everyone, Deidara has just informed me that he wants out. Of course you know if you want out, you must kill someone to get out...or be killed. Itachi, Deidara, take your stances. Fight to the death." He barked taking a seat. Shikyo was floored. _'Fight to the death? Between my old sensei and my new one? No...'_ She moved to the side and leaned against a wall.

Itachi and Deidara faced each other in anticipation. Itachi had wanted to get his hands on the smart mouthed idiot for a while anyway.

"Whenever you're ready." Leader-sama announced. Itachi simply lifted his hand and the room began to spin. Deidara felt sick as the room spun faster and faster, as if he were on an out of control merry-go-round. He dropped to his knees and threw up all over the floor.

_'What the hell?!'_ He panted. Right when he tried to stand up, Itachi's fist connected with his cheek and a blinding light flashed under eyelids. He slid across the floor, landing a few feet away from Shikyo.

Her chest became tight with worry. She knew that Deidara wasn't the type for hand to hand combat; however, he had a few tricks up his sleeve...

Deidara looked up at Shikyo and frowned. Knowing that she was watching sparked a fire within him. All that he had told her, taught her, shown her...She would question everything he'd ever said to her if he died in front of her. She would question his abilities as a ninja. He couldn't stand the thought of his only student who had once looked at him as if he were the one who created the sun and hung it in the sky watch him be defeated so easily.

Itachi waited patiently for Deidara to stand up. He looked at Shikyo. Although her facial expression was indifferent, he could see worry in her eyes. _'Does she care about this moron?'_ His eyes narrowed. _'Of course she does. To her this is her sensei. She has a bond with him. She's loyal to him...I have to break that bond by destroying her faith in him...so that she'll be loyal to no one but me.'_

Deidara pushed his cloak back to shove his hands into two pouches that rested on both of his hips. He grinned at Itachi. "That was a nice move. Where'd you learn that trick, hn?"

Itachi didn't answer him. He was already getting tired of this; it was child's play for him, not a real challenge. "This is getting boring."

"Oh, really? Then let's make it interesting." Deidara ran at Itachi, turning into a blur. He got close enough to look Itachi directly in the eyes before Itachi stepped to the side and kicked Deidara in his back causing him to lose his balance, fall, and roll across the floor. Deidara sat up and looked back at Itachi over his shoulder with an evil grin. He brought his hand up and made the tiger sign and yelled, "Katsu!"

Shikyo had to shield herself from the explosion. When the heat from the blast has safely subsided, she looked. Her heart sunk. Deidara-sensei was losing his battle...If this kept up any longer, he would kill himself.

Deidara looked back at the spot in awe. He knew he had put the clay bug on him...so where was his body? He looked around and saw Itachi standing on the other side of the gym. He would just have to try it again...Itachi leaned on the wall next to Shikyo and watched Deidara ready his next attack. Itachi looked at Shikyo and smirked; his former student was quickly losing faith in his ability to win. Every bomb he made got bigger and bigger and she knew that if necessary, Kisame would create a shield to protect them all should Deidara decide to go for the kill. How could he not see it? It was so clear to her watching him...

As Deidara made another bomb, he looked at Itachi angrily. It was pissing him off that he hadn't been able to put a scratch on Itachi, much less actually kill him. _'So it's come to this...'_ He added more explosive to his bomb, deciding that it would be better to kill them both than to lose.

Shikyo watched him carefully, taking note of the amount of time it was taking him to create his next bomb. It usually took two minutes; he had been working on this one for nearly five minutes while moving around the room, dodging attacks. She shook her head slowly. Kisame stood and moved forward, quickly making hand signs for his containment jutsu. Deidara was going to die. Without thinking about it, she ran to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. Tears lined her eyes as she sent as much of her chakra into him as she could without overdoing it. _'Please, Deidara-sensei, open your eyes and see it for what it really is--a Genjutsu!'_

Deidara had just put his hand up to detonate the bomb when he felt something squeezing him. He looked down and saw Shikyo holding him tightly, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. He looked back up and the Itachi he was fighting faded as he realized the real one had been standing next to Shikyo the entire time.

_'A Genjutsu? I've been fighting myself this entire time?'_ Anger made his blood boil. Itachi had been toying with him from the beginning...He was about to attack Itachi when he stopped and realized that Shikyo was shaking. He looked down and saw her tears. She had seen he was in trouble and interfered. If it hadn't been for her, he would have blown himself up. He didn't know what to think. He wanted to be mad at her for making him look so weak in front of the others; to think someone he had once instructed had to rescue him. On the other hand, even though his pride was bruised and beaten, she had saved him. He put the bomb back into his pocket and rubbed her back as she silently sobbed. This was the first time in nearly five years that she had shown any emotion, and it was for him. He fought the smile threatening to appear. Out of all the people he had met in his life, someone had cared enough to put their own life on the line, had cared enough to protect him, to love him. He knew that only love would make one forget the value of their own life to protect another. He suddenly felt closer to her; a bond formed between them that would never be broken. He ran his hand over the top of her head.

"Shikyo, get out of the way." The leader called out. She opened her eyes and looked at him. Slowly, her eyes came to Deidara's.

"Just go, Little One." He whispered. She stared into his eyes for several minutes before she frowned, let go, and stood up quickly. Deidara closed his eyes, not wanting to watch her walk away.

"I said move! This battle isn't over."

Deidara's eyes opened and he looked to find her standing in between him and Itachi. She let her head hang as she slowly shook it. Eyes widened slightly with interest at her display of disobedience. Itachi slightly tilted his head to the side in mild interest.

"Either move or I will have you fight along side him and you both will die." The leader whispered in a harsh, uncaring tone. She shrugged and looked up at him with blazing gold eyes. Itachi briefly chuckled. It was amusing to see her show some character. Stubborn. Defiant.

Deidara stood behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Take it easy, Little One." She looked over her shoulder at him with concern. As he looked at her, he began to be able to tell what she was thinking. Her eyes shimmered. As if he had thought of leaving her here with these people. "I'll stay."

Itachi sighed, turned away, and said nothing.

Their leader chuckled. "Well, it didn't turn out the way I thought it would but nonetheless, it was entertaining."

Shikyo's eyes faded back to their original blue as she calmed down. He rubbed her shoulder and guided her back to her room. Everyone else filed out behind them except Itachi and the leader.

"You should do that tattoo now. You know now that the odds of her one day making a run for it are more likely." Itachi advised.

He looked at the boy with annoyance. "Fine. Go get her."

Itachi left and returned with the girl. She looked off to the side never bringing her eyes to meet the leader's. He stood up and came closer to her. After a few minutes she finally brought her eyes up to him; he slapped her so hard that her bottom lip began to bleed slightly. "The next time I give you a direct order, you will do as you're told!"

Itachi frowned. It was none of his business, but he didn't approve of hitting her. The leader looked at the expression on Itachi's face. "She has to be kept in check. By any means necessary."

Itachi nodded, hearing his hidden message. He was to do whatever he deemed fit to punish her for whatever she'd done wrong, including hitting her. "Get Kisame and the two of you take her into town. There's someone who does tattoos that owes us. Kisame knows who I'm talking about."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Shikyo walked behind Itachi and Kisame, face still stinging slightly from the slap. She thought about what she had done. Had it been worth it? Would Deidara-sensei still try to leave? Had she wasted her time? She determined that if he was gone by the time she returned, it would have been a waste of her time. In the tattoo parlor, she was strapped on a table as the man readied his ink and needles. "What will she be getting?"

Itachi handed him a picture of a dragon with the Chinese symbols for water, fire, wind, earth, and lightning placed around it. The man nodded appreciatively and got to work. Shikyo tried not to twitch from the initial pain but once it subsided, the man occasionally looked up to make sure the girl was still alive and had not died from shock because she was so still. The tattoo extended from her left thigh and winded down her leg to her ankle. The detail of the dragon was so realistic that with the way the light reflected off of its green scales, one would have believed that it could come alive. Its red tongue seemed to flicker out as its brownish claws seemed to dig into her skin. The extension on its back was colored yellow and its tail was an interesting shade of blue. The Chinese symbols were placed strategically near each color that matched the element. By the time the man was done, her skin was red with irritation. He gave Itachi a cream to put on it to keep it from getting infected. It hurt to walk since the tattoo wrapped around the back of her leg, right where her leg bent. However, she ignored it as best she could, even ignoring Kisame's offer to carry her back.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

As Itachi prepared to leave, he was stopped by the Leader. "I need to explain to you why Shikyo is so important to us."

Itachi nodded.

"I'll try to brief and simple so you can leave. About five years prior to her birth, we captured and sealed Houkou, the five tailed demon. I had heard about the existence of a clan that had a Kekkei Genkai that had exemplary Genjutsu skills that allowed them to kill an opponent mentally. Unfortunately, these persons are born with this trait only once every few generations. We were lucky when we found out that it was time for the trait to make an appearance. However, only two children were born this generation with the trait. I decided that since Houkou is the god of Illusion, if we were to seal him inside one of the children born with the Kekkei Genkai trait, then we could create the ultimate weapon, capable of killing hundreds with the added boost of chakra and added specialty of the Houkou for it illusion abilities. The first child we located from the main bloodline was too old to seal the Houkou. We found out that Shikyo's mother was here with her husband, due to give birth in four months.

"We did research and found out that he had requested to leave the Hidden Leaf village to go elsewhere because his clan had disowned him for his gambling addiction. We set him up with a bet for his home and he lost. Knowing that he would try to bargain his way out of the debt, we managed to get him and his wife to agree to exchange their daughter for payment. We brought her here as soon as they let us have her and sealed the demon within her. If you've noticed, she has two different visible chakra colors: blue and gold. The gold is the Houkou's. Everyone has been told to guard her with their lives and I'm now telling you the same thing. If she dies, the Houkou dies with her. I plan to use her to locate and fight the more powerful Bijuus if necessary so that we can seal them also. Once we have all nine, we can move on to part two of my plan. For now, I'm giving you a personal mission. Protect her. She's your mission, Itachi. Ensure she stays safe at all times. She's not weak; however she's not invincible either. If she happens to escape from us, it will be up to you and Kisame to retrieve her. Understood?"

"Yes." He nodded.

"You may go."

Without another word, Itachi headed back to the Hidden Leaf, thinking about how one person he barely even knew was suddenly all that was supposed to matter to him.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Itachi took missions very seriously, and tried to look at Shikyo as if she were just some mission in which he had to guard someone, but it was hard. He kept looking at her and comparing her to his little brother Sasuke. He would think about how weak Sasuke was and strong she was for a girl. He would think about what Kisame had said: her family had held her back. The very same could be applied to Sasuke. He had the potential, but his family was interfering. Itachi had been working on being able to effectively shut off his emotions during this time in his life because he knew that if one could successfully do this, then they would be able to become powerful. However, he would sometimes slip and show some sympathy towards Shikyo if she messed up. Whenever he realized he had done this, he would treat her harshly as his way of making up for the slip. As the months passed, he began to develop a love/hate relationship towards the girl. He admired her growth as a kunoichi, but hated that so much of her sparked emotions that he had for his little brother. Little did he know, he was developing a soft spot for his first and only student.

One day Shikyo was training with Kazuku in a life or death simulation battle.

"I want you to fight me as if you wanted to kill me." Kazuku told her. She nodded. Five minutes into the battle she had Kazuku trapped in a strong Genjutsu. However, he knew that in order to break it, he would have to break her concentration. The minute he located where her real body was, he grabbed her arm and snapped the bone in her forearm as if it were nothing more than a toothpick. Instantly the illusion vanished as she stared down at her arm in his tight grip.

Itachi looked up when he noticed the sudden pause between them. At first she felt nothing, but then the pain slammed into her as if someone was sawing her arm off.

She screamed out in pain. Everyone stared in awe for a few seconds before rushing over to them. She continued to scream as she fell to her knees holding her limp arm. Deidara seemingly came out of nowhere and almost beat Itachi to her.

"What the hell did you do?!" He yelled at Itachi. Itachi looked up at him and said nothing. He looked back down at her arm and knew that it was very serious. Judging by the way the bones were broken, only her skin and muscle was keeping the limb attached.

"Shikyo, calm down. You need to focus and try to heal yourself." Itachi tried to get her to listen but she kept crying, her face drowned in tears, and screaming about the pain.

Finally Deidara shoved his way through to her and picked her up bridal style and carried her out of the room, her screams fading with every step.

Itachi and Kisame looked at Kazuku angrily.

"What hell did you do that for?" Kisame gritted his teeth. Their leader had also told him that she was his personal mission. The two of them were to one day be assigned with her on a team.

"I wasn't about to lose to a ten year old. And besides, it was a life-and-death simulation. She needs to learn how to deal with that kind of pain in battle."

"Yes, but to break her arm? There are not too many techniques she can perform with only one hand." Itachi's voice was even and unemotional, yet Kazuku knew he was close to the edge.

"Well, now is the perfect time to teach her. She needs to become better anyway if she is to be of any use to us in the future." Kazuku scoffed and walked around them to leave the room. All Itachi could see was his dad saying something similar about him to his mother. He clenched his fist tightly as his Sharingan activated.

Kazuku stopped when a shuriken lodged into the wall nearly five inches from his face. He turned and looked at Itachi whose eyes were almost slits. He chuckled and continued to walk out of the room. What did he care about some brat?

In Shikyo's room, she had stopped screaming, but continued to sob quietly. She hadn't made a sound in five years and when she finally did, it was because of pain. Deidara rushed around looking for Kabuto or someone who knew medical jutsu to help her. She laid in the bed, still holding her arm.

_'You can stop the pain yourself...'_ A deep voice whispered.

She froze when she heard it.

_'Just tap into my chakra...it'll heal you...'_

She shook her head, thinking that the pain was causing her to be delusional now. Without warning, gold chakra enveloped her body and she began to glow. She screamed when the bone in her arm shifted back to its original spot then calmed down as it began to heal. Kisame and Itachi walked in and watched in awe. As soon as the bone was fixed, Shikyo passed out from the pain.

Itachi looked at her and got angry at himself for once again, letting his emotions get the best of him.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

After his fight with Deidara and Leader-sama telling him that Shikyo was his mission, Itachi felt a strange sense of ownership over her. When instructing her during training, he saw the way she looked at him and would inwardly smile--she was _his_ student, and she had to listen to him and do what he said. He developed a sense of superiority over her that made him realize he wasn't just better than her, but better than his clan as well. They depended on him so they had to be inferior to him. Yet, they treated the situation as if they could easily beat him, as if they had what it took to establish and maintain that stupid pride they held so highly.

Fugaku finally extended Itachi an invitation to one of the clan meetings. As soon as he stepped into the secret room, he was overcome with many dark and dangerous feelings. Yet, he bit his tongue as thoughts and images swirled around inside his head. On the walls were two painted pictures of what he was told to be Sojobo, King of Tengu.

_'Could it be?...Someone worthy enough to help me to escape this prison?'_

Itachi suddenly felt very hateful and angry for no particular reason. Something compelled him to go look at the scroll sitting on the table. _'My history...my legacy...'_ An evil voice whispered inside of his head.

Itachi read the text:

_ Many years ago there was a girl from Hyuuga clan who fell in love with an outsider. She decided to marry herself to the young man despite the strong protests from her own clan. But this man was no ordinary human. In fact, this man was not a human at all. His name was Sojobo. He was the King of Tengu._

_ There are two types of tengus, Karasu tengu (a crow-like creature with beak and wings) and Konoha tengu (also known as Yamabushi tengu). Sojobo was a Konoha tengu. He had long nose and white hair with a pair of black wings on his back. As the King of Tengu, Sojobo possessed some very mystical powers. He carried a fan made of Fatsia leaf that could create a storm (therefore people sometimes call this type of leaf as Tengu no Uchiwa or Tengus fan). He could teleport himself or any other things from one place to another. He could also communicate with people telepathically or even invade their minds and drive them to madness. Besides, Sojobo was also known for his shape shifting ability. He sometimes transformed himself into human to interact with people. _

_ This girl from Hyuuga was in love with Sojobo taking the human form without knowing his true identity. She married him shortly after they met each other. A year or two later, she was pregnant and gave birth to their first son. Sojobo named this son Uchiha, Uchiha Madara, after Uchiwa which means fan. The fan later became the symbol of this new clan._

_ Uchiha Madara soon grew up to become a very powerful shinobi. He not only inherited the Kekkei Genkai from his mother but with the Tengu blood inside him the Byakugan had evolved into an even more dreadful form: __the Sharingan! This new bloodline had 2 levels: Normal Sharingan and Mangekyou Sharingan. Like his tengu father, Madara possessed some incredible magical powers. He was able to use telepathy to invade people's minds, or even teleport himself across a short distance. When he turned on the Mangekyou Sharingan (he had the normal Sharingan on 24/7 just like his Hyuuga kin), the eyes would further intensify his powers and bring him even closer to a tengu form. He had developed 3 jutsus under this state, namely __Tsuku__yomi (to control people's minds and drive them insane), Amaterasu (to teleport objects into another dimension) and Susanoo (to create a storm like that created by a Tengus fan)._

_ Because of his bravery and almost unparalleled powers, Madara soon became a hero in his people's eyes despite his young age. He became very close friends with Shodaime and together they took up the responsibility to protect __the Konoha village they established. Madara founded the first police force in the Konoha and swore to protect his people with his life._

_ As Madara was about to reach his adulthood, Sojobo began to reveal his true intention. Sojobo didn't marry the girl from Hyuuga out of love. He was only looking for a perfect body, a container (probably to achieve greater powers), and he figured the best way was to create one with his own blood. He was planning on taking over Madara'__s body once he reached his adulthood. It didn't take Uchiha Madara long to find out this appalling truth. He felt a mixture of shock and anger. He felt he was being used but he wasn't going to give in so easily, at least not without a fight. But Madara knew only too well that no matter how strong he was he stood no chance against the King of Tengu. Out of desperation he sought for the legendary Bijuu: __Kyuubi (the God of Fire). _

_ Kyuubi was very impressed by Madara's abilities. A secret pact was made and Kyuubi agreed to lend his power and chakra to Uchiha Madara. Soon Madara mastered the baton and he could even cast a dark fire that would burn for seven days and seven nights after performing the Amaterasu. But even with these newly gained powers and a huge supply of chakra from the Kyuubi, Uchiha Madara was only able to beat his demon father by a hair's breadth. He couldn't finish him once and for all but only managed to seal him up. However, the seal he used was a very special one. To break the seal it requires the Kyuubi's chakra and also not one but three Uchiha members who can wield the Mangekyou Sharingan. Each MS user has to cast a different MS jutsu at the same time and when the three jutsus--Tsukuyomi, Amaterasu and Susanoo--combine, the great evil will be unleashed. _

Itachi looked back at his father, who only nodded. So they were part demon?

_That's right.'_ The voice in his head whispered, _'Only you can help release me. The Uchiha clan with time has become weak, Itachi. How can they be afraid of the gift that I gave them? They clearly have more power than any other clan...why be afraid of something they have never even seen before? Of something they know nothing of except what an older member wrote? I can help free you from their grasp, Itachi, and grant you unlimited power if you can help me to release my body.'_

Itachi already knew his answer. If there was a way to free himself from his clan, he would surely take it.


	8. The Demon Within

Chapter Eight: The Demon Within

March

As time passed, Itachi eventually became captain of the ANBU, which consequently meant he had less time to train Shikyo. Their usual twice a week training schedule dropped to once a week.

Itachi found Zetsu leaning up against the wall outside of their leader's room. "I need to speak with him."

Zetsu looked down at him. "For what?"

"It concerns my training Shikyo. It's important." Zetsu disappeared through the wall for a minute then reappeared.

"You may enter."

Itachi opened the door and went inside. Their leader was seated at a window, watching it rain. "Yes?"

"I cannot train with Shikyo anymore. It would be best if you could find someone else to take over for the time being."

Their leader looked at him. "Thanks to you, Itachi, only Kisame has a chance of handling her effectively. And he has his limits because if he can't see her, then he can't catch her."

"It won't be a permanent solution. It's just until I am able to leave my village for good."

"Then why not just leave now?"

Itachi lowered his gaze to the floor. Even at that moment, he could feel the spirit's presence stirring just beneath the surface of his skin. "I have some things that I need to tend to. Some lose ends to take care of."

The leader only nodded, "Then do what you need to do. Just hurry up; I would rather you be around her as much as possible."

Itachi nodded then dismissed himself.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Shikyo had been sitting on her bed in her room with her legs drawn up to her chest. She rested her chin on the top of her knees as she stared at the opposite wall. Itachi entered the room followed by a suspicious Deidara.

"Again, I ask you why do you need to speak with me, yeah?" He said irritated that Itachi had woken him up from a peaceful nap. Itachi didn't look at either one of them.

"I only intend to say this once so listen carefully. Since I became captain of the ANBU of my village, I have more duties and responsibilities to take care of. As a result, I am not able to train with you, Shikyo, as much as I used to. I am turning your training back over to Deidara." He turned to leave. Deidara's eyes doubled in size.

"Wait, you're leaving?! You get to leave before _me_?!!!!" He all but yelled.

"No, it'll be a while before I return. She just can't sit on her butt waiting for me. I trust you and Kisame can keep her in shape until I return in a few months." Itachi didn't even bother to look over his shoulder. He felt a slight tug at his sleeve and turned to see Shikyo standing there. Her face held no emotion but her eyes asked a question. _'How long will you be gone?'_

He stared at her for a moment then replied, "I don't for sure when I'll return; what I need to do may take some time."

She frowned. _'Will it be dangerous?'_

"Don't worry about me. Just continue training. When I come back, we'll have a battle to judge your improvement." He started to keep walking but was stopped by her as she wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. He fought to keep his face straight and not to shove her off of him. She finally let go and went back to her spot on her bed. Deidara's blood boiled at the sight of her showing someone else that she cared about their well-being. Itachi noticed Deidara's anger and smirked. His guilty pleasure was pissing that pansy off.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

With Itachi gone, Deidara was a bit happier. In his first session with Shikyo, he spent more time showing her how to mold things by hand with his special clay just so he could stare at her. He hated Itachi so much for making such a complete fool out of him in front of the leader that he had stopped watching her training sessions with him all together. Whenever she wasn't with Itachi, she spent time with Kisame perfecting her chakra control. He had a strict policy about others being in the room sometimes because their chatter would break her concentration. He showed her how to make clay birds [although they didn't look as good as the ones the mouths in his palms made, at least they had some sort of shape, and even had her practice making arms and fingers for him in case he ever lost a limb in the future.

"Shikyo, let's go." Sasori entered the room with an agent behind him.

She looked up at him then stood. Deidara frowned. "What's going on?"

"Leader-sama wants to test her skills as a kunoichi. He's decided to put her in school and see how she acts. Itachi made a point that with her hair color she'll never be able to blend in with others. He wants to test that. If she can make Genin without incident, then she's ready as a ninja." Sasori waited for Shikyo to come to him.

"But she's older than--"

"They have different classes for different ages, Deidara. Quit being so overprotective and acting like you're her older brother. She'll be fine." Sasori cut him off as he guided her out the door. "She'll be attending school for a year or until she makes Genin."

Deidara's shoulders slumped.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

As predicted, she attended until she made Genin. On her first day of school, the other children flocked to her, mesmerized by the color of her hair. That first week she spent more time running from the other children then actually learning anything.

Deidara used a transformation jutsu to sneak into her class as a child her age. He thought it was actually funny that she was noticeable when she wanted nothing more than to blend into a wall somewhere. One day, a child gathered to courage to try to touch her long, silky hair and she promptly flipped the child across the playground. Luckily, Deidara broke the child's fall or else Shikyo could have been suspended. After this display of strength, the other children immediately began to avoid her at all costs.

In class, Deidara sat next to her and watched her, still disguised. She often opted to just put her head down on the desk and watch the other children interact. She refused to speak to any of them, even him, and would often pretend that she was hearing things by looking around the room in an annoyed fashion. When the teacher called on her to answer questions, she refused to answer him or if possible would just demonstrate whatever he was talking about.

Although her teacher considered her to be incredibly smart and talented as a kunoichi, she never desired to be ahead of her class. Instead, she would purposely do just enough to get her by and earn a good grade. This often frustrated him but she would often just look at him with little to no interest as he lectured her about not applying herself.

However, no one knew what was really going on in her mind. For nearly a year she watched the children run around carefree and happy, something she couldn't remember having ever experienced. Then when school was out, those same children were picked up by parents and others who loved them. Her chest felt heavy often while she waited for someone to come escort her back to the headquarters. She felt so alone. It was January when she decided things would change for her.

"Ready, Little One?" Deidara showed up. It was very rare that he would ever pick her up. She felt a small smile tug at her lips as she stood. He turned around and allowed her to get on his back, then carried her home. "Did you have a good day today?"

She nodded.

"That's good, yeah. Next week is to be your last week here. You'll take the test that Friday and you should graduate to Genin. I know the others will kill me, but I was thinking you and I could stop for some hot chocolate since its so cold out."

Her eyes lit up and a small smile appeared on her face as she nodded excitedly. Physically, it had been six years since she was last given any kind of sugar but according to her current memories, she had never experienced something like that. He stopped at a coffee shop and ordered two hot chocolates, topped with whipped cream and sprinkled with cinnamon. He taught her how to blow on it gently to cool it down. They sat for nearly fifteen minutes, sipping their hot chocolate and looking at each other with smiles. They would most likely get into a lot of trouble when they got back, but it would be worth it.

"I found out today that Kabuto has decided to quit training you as well." Deidara whispered. She looked at him then nodded slowly. "Also, once you become Genin, we're supposed to move headquarters to a village called Amegakure."

Again, she only nodded to show him she was listening. They finished minutes later. Deidara paid for their drinks and they left. As they walked, Shikyo felt a strange tingling sensation shoot through her and suddenly she couldn't be still.

"Are you okay?" He eyed her suspiciously. She nodded but kept bouncing.

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A week later Deidara brought her home with a Hidden Rain forehead protector in her hand. Everyone didn't seem surprised that she would make Genin, and she really didn't care for her rank. It seemed to be a waste of her time. She was actually relieved to find out she didn't have to go back.

Months passed and soon it was June. One night she woke up at one a.m. as she usually did and went to the bathroom. When she came out, she heard voices in the meeting room and tiptoed down the hall. She leaned next to the door and listened intently.

"So far, everything is going according to our plans. The day after tomorrow, we will clear this place out and move to the base I've set up in Amegakure. It isn't too far from here so it won't take long. I have complete control over that village. Shikyo is now capable of handling herself so now we can focus on taking missions from the wealthier villages to make the money we need."

"Forgive me, Leader-sama, but I'm not sure I know what the child's purpose is yet." Hidan spoke up.

"She is our weapon, our strongest offense to date against any large number of opponents. We designed her to be untouchable except by us and that's how she is. With her, we can complete a number of missions and earn the money quicker, locate other Bijuu and fight the more powerful ones alongside her, even start wars and immediately stop them, proving to the Villages that we are superior."

Shikyo covered her mouth. A weapon? Her only purpose was to be killing machine?

A deep, sinister voice chuckled in her head, _'Hm, after all of this time, you're just now realizing the truth. Years, Mitsukai, and you're just now seeing it for what it really is. You are nothing but a tool to them.'_

Shikyo shook her head and ran back to her room, gently closing the door. She had heard this voice before...but who was it? What was it? And where did it come from?

_'I am inside of you. Thanks to your Kekkei Genkai, I can communicate with you as I please. Normally, you would have developed another personality, much like that plant friend of yours...But because you already have me inside of you, I can negate that effect. You'll never go insane. Are you going to let them continue to use you? To control you as if you are some common tool?'_

Shikyo held her head and fell to her knees. Tears built up in her eyes because she was so confused.

_Do you want to experience the freedom the other children have?'_

Shikyo felt herself nod.

_'Then give me full control, Mitsukai. I'll create a pit out of this place and get you far away from them.'_

She thought about Deidara.

_'I'll spare him...and the others if you'd like. But I cannot stand to be exploited anymore.'_

She took several deep breaths and felt her control begin to disappear.

_'Good girl.'_ The voice whispered as she was consumed in the gold chakra. She fell over on all fours and grunted in pain as her eyes turned solid gold. Soon, she stood up, no longer herself.

"Now, to erase this wretched place." Houkou chuckled. The door opened and a boy about Shikyo's age came in, checking on her because he had heard a noise. Houkou looked at him and a ring of fire circled the boy then closed in on him. The boy screamed out in pain and fell the floor as his body was consumed with flames. Houkou looked around the room and suddenly the room started to burn as well. Shikyo's balled up fists became enveloped with fire as she walked down the hall quietly, running her hands along the walls, setting them on fire.

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Kisame sat up straight. "Do you smell something burning?" They looked at each other for a minute before jumping up and running towards Shikyo's room.

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Houkou sensed that others were coming and ran for the nearest window. With a shot of fire, the window was blown out and she jumped out of it. Landing gracefully on her feet, Houkou turned towards back towards the building. Fire spread in a circle around the building and Shikyo did the hand signs for the Fireball jutsu Itachi taught her and blew flames. She then watched as the building caught on fire. Shikyo smirked and did another hand sign for a jutsu she didn't consciously know yet, blew again, and a strong gust of wind caused the flames to swirl about, resembling a tornado.

"Now, you are free, Mitsukai." Houkou's voice came from her mouth. She turned and squatted then leapt into the air as a four-legged animal would, jumping from branch to branch at an incredible speed. Within five seconds, her speed had reached 100 miles per hour and she was well out of the Hidden Rain village, heading in the direction of the Hidden Leaf village.

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Deidara, Sasori, Hidan, Kazuku, Kisame, Konan, Zetsu, and their leader watched in awe as the building burned down. They allowed the agents to fight to put the fire out while they waited until it was safe enough to go in and search for Shikyo. There was a sound was made behind them and they turned to find Itachi standing there. The flames reflected in his eyes, barely illuminating the new design of his Sharingan. "What happened here?"

"We don't know yet." Zetsu answered, glancing at him out of the corner of his eye.

"Where's Shikyo?"

"No one's seen her leave." Kisame answered stiffly, trying to hide his concern. However, Deidara didn't even bother.

"We can't just stand here and wait. One of us should go in and search personally. Zetsu, can't you go in?"

Zetsu gave him a spiteful look that Deidara sworn was telling him to go crawl under a rock and die. "Why won't you go in?"

Deidara looked at the building. The flames weren't as bad as they were making them out to be.

"I'll go." Kisame stepped forward. He made a few hand signs and a water dragon appeared and slammed into the building, putting out the flames in the part of the building that Shikyo was supposed to be in. He disappeared inside.

The wait was nearly unbearable for them, each for a different reason. Fifteen minutes, Kisame appeared with a body, charred beyond recognition. "This is what I found in her room." His voice held a detectable hint of sorrow.

Deidara felt his mind shut down at the sight of what had once been a person. "No...way..." He reached into his cloak and pulled out Shikyo's forehead protector that he'd put a slash through intending to give it to her once they'd gotten to the new base.

The leader spat an array of colorful words as he turned away from the sight. "All of that hard work..."

Itachi looked down at the body. _'Another dead person...It's funny how I go and kill all of those pathetic people...and return to find another dead.'_

Their leader collected himself, "Fine, then we'll just proceed to phase two of the plan. We have the money anyway from all of the people we've tricked over the years. We'll move base to Amegakure as discussed. Zetsu, you stay behind and make sure that all of this is cleaned up and erased. We're not going to leave a trail. Itachi, are you with us for good?"

Itachi nodded. They watched as he removed his headband and drew a line through it with his kunai, and then put it back on.

"Good. You'll still be paired with Kisame since your fighting styles compliment each other. The other teams will be Sasori and Deidara, Kazuku and Hidan, Zetsu will be on his own, and Konan will be with me."

"What about Orochimaru?" Deidara asked. Itachi visibly tensed.

"If we ever cross paths with him again, he's to be killed on sight. He knows too much of our plans, he's taken his ring with him, and he didn't tell us that he was leaving. He knew the procedure for leaving this group. There's no reason why I would make Deidara go through that and not him. Don't bother to go after him, but if you see him, bring his head to me."

They all nodded then turned their backs to the flaming building, leaving Zetsu behind.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

By the time Mitsukai regained consciousness from using so much chakra, it was dawn. She looked around and realized she was lying in a field of flowers and judging by the white fluffy clouds in the sky, she was far away from the gloomy Hidden Rain village. She heard the faint sound of running water and followed it. She found a waterfall and was mesmerized by the two statues facing each other on either side of the river the waterfall created. She looked out ahead of her and for the first time in years, smiled broadly.

All she knew was her name and where she had come from; she remembered nothing of her parents, how they died, the Akatsuki, or the demon within her. The world was at her feet and she had her whole life to explore it all.


	9. Secret of the Uchihas

Chapter Nine: Secret of the Uchihas

[Author's note: I'm going back in time a bit before Mitsukai escaped from the Akatsuki.

* * *

September---six months after Mitsukai started school

Sasuke looked at his report card and smiled. He had the highest marks in his class. He ran all the way home and found his father in the family room, sitting on the floor with his eyes closed. He handed him the card and took a seat in front of him, anxiously awaiting his response.

Fugaku looked at it and closed his eyes again. He stood and approached Sasuke. "Keep this up and become successful just like your brother." He dropped the card next to Sasuke and walked out of the door, leaving his son alone.

Sasuke's shoulders sagged with disappointment. "Dad...I...," He whispered, "...I wanted you to say, 'as expected of my child.'"

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Later that night Sasuke woke to the sounds of voices. He tiptoed down the hall and heard his father and Itachi talking.

"What did you say? Do you understand how important tomorrow is? You don't understand your position!"

"I have a mission tomorrow." Itachi didn't look up at him.

Sasuke inched closer to the sliding panel and quietly slid it open more so he could see what was going on. _'It's so late, and the lights are out. What could they be doing?'_

"What mission?" Fugaku demanded.

Itachi sighed lightly, "That I can't tell you. It's a secret mission."

"Itachi, you're the link that connects us to the village. You understand that, right?"

Itachi controlled his sudden burst of anger that coursed through him. Fugaku was always thinking of the clan and the village...Their image was always more important to him than anything else. "Yeah."

"Make a good impression. And come to the meeting tomorrow."

Itachi didn't respond. He could feel someone else was near. He closed his eyes to concentrate and heard the quiet, tiny breaths of the person. He opened them and, without turning his head, looked in the direction behind him towards the door. "Sasuke." Fugaku and Mikoto gasped and looked up as well. "Go to the bathroom and quickly go back to sleep."

Sasuke was a bit glad to have been recognized. He slid the door open a little more and gave a small smile. "Okay."

Fugaku stood up and addressed Sasuke. "What are you doing up this late at night? Hurry up and go to sleep!"

His tone of voice wasn't like Itachi's gentle one. His shoulders drooped a bit as he sadly slid the door closed. "Okay."

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The next night, like he had told his father, Itachi had a secret mission to complete. It wasn't for the ANBU like Fugaku had assumed, but he was to meet and talk with the Akatsuki leader about Shikyo. He had agreed to meet with Paine at 8:30 p.m. in the forest outside of Konoha. He saw no problem with this seeing as the family meeting wasn't until nine o'clock.

He found Paine standing in his usual spot. "I'll be brief. We are thinking of putting Shikyo in the village's academy as part of an infiltration exercise to see how good she is at blending in with others. What do you think?"

Itachi thought about it. She needed to exposed to other people outside of them. He only nodded.

"Then it's settled. She'll be enrolled next Monday." Paine disappeared. Itachi turned and walked back to head to the Nakano Shrine near the Nakano River. He turned and noticed the full moon reflecting off of the surface. As he was walking alongside the river, he heard rustling and stopped.

"Itachi." He turned to see Shisui staring at him strangely.

He only tilted his head in mild interest before answering, "Yes?"

"Who was that?" Shisui asked.

"Hmm?" Itachi pretended not to know what he was talking about.

"That man. I've seen his face in the Bingo book. He's supposed to be forming some secret organization." He shook his head. "Itachi, I've been watching you since you joined the ANBU...and you've been acting strangely. I don't know what to make of your actions, but I do know one thing: I'm going to have to report you. I've seen you conversing with a wanted ninja and yet you made no effort to capture him. That is treason against your village."

Itachi felt the evil stir underneath his skin as he got angry. He had been so careless that he hadn't thought to check and made sure he wasn't being followed. Shisui tried to walk past Itachi. He couldn't let Shisui tell anyone his secret. Without thinking about it, he swung aiming to hit Shisui in the back of the head. Shisui, having seen this coming, managed to move just enough to prevent the blow from knocking him out. He swung back at Itachi but Itachi moved faster than him, grabbed his arm, and flipped him into the river. Blinded by fury, Itachi jumped in after him and once he was able to get his hands on him, put both hands on top of Shisui's head and forced his head under. Shisui hit Itachi a few times causing Itachi to lose his grip which allowed Shisui to come up for air.

Unfortunately for Shisui, Itachi had a secret to keep that he was willing to kill for. Itachi grabbed his head again and forced him back under; this time he kneed Shisui in the gut which caused him to lose the precious air he needed to survive. As water filled his lungs, Shisui became dizzy and his world spun until it faded into nothingness. Itachi put all of his weight on his cousin's head until the water became still. When he was sure that Shisui was dead, he let go and swam back to shore. As he lifted himself out, he looked over his shoulder to watch Shisui's lifeless body float down the river. He stood up and sighed. His clothes were soaked so there was no way to go the meeting now.

"Forget it." He mumbled and headed home, knowing that everyone was at the meeting by now.

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That next morning, Itachi noticed Sasuke's report card sitting on the nightstand in Sasuke's bedroom. He opened it and was proud of his little brother's progress so far. He found Sasuke sitting on the porch and sat down beside him, laying the report card between them. For a while, neither of them spoke.

"Father always talks about you." Sasuke finally spoke. Itachi raised an eyebrow upon hearing his brother's tone. It was a bit resentful. Itachi knew how this sounded because at one point, that was how he sounded when talking to the two year old Sasuke.

"Am I that bad?" Itachi looked at Sasuke briefly then back out at the yard, "Whatever, it's alright. Shinobi are hated by others, so it's no surprise."

Sasuke's mouth gaped open. _'Tha-that way...it's just as he said. In truth, I...about my brother...'_

Itachi saw the look on Sasuke's face. He chuckled and smiled, "This is what happens when you are skilled. Power causes you to become isolated and arrogant. In the beginning, you only aim for what you dream of. It's just that we're unique siblings. I'm the barrier you must overcome, so you and I will continue to exist together. Even if you hate me. That's what being a big brother is."

Sasuke looked at his brother. They heard a door open and someone called out. "Is Itachi here? We need to speak to you. Come out!"

Itachi got up and walked to the door. "What is it...? With everyone here...?"

It was three men of his clan who worked at the police station with their dad. The oldest one spoke, "Two were absent from last night's meeting. Why didn't you come?"

Sasuke peeked around the corner and listened. _'It's just as I thought; he really didn't go to the meeting father mentioned.'_

The eldest continued, "Ever since you joined ANBU, you have had several 'missions'. I understand that. Your father has told us that too. He watches out for you, but--"

Another guy with long brown hair cut him off, "We don't plan to give _you_ any special treatment."

Itachi stared at them. _So they've found his body already...'_

"I understand. I'll be more careful now. Please leave."

The first guy spoke again, "You're right. But before that, there's something else we want to ask you." Itachi looked up, interested in what he would say next. "It's about the suicidal drowning in the Nakano River last night. That of Shisui Uchiha."

Itachi's eyes narrowed slightly. On the surface, Itachi was anxious to go back to his spot on the porch, tired of their roundabout way of accusing him when they essentially had no proof. Deep inside, a dark, evil part of him was growing impatient and was peeved. _'Are they so afraid that they cannot even say what they think? They cannot even effectively confront someone over a matter as trivial as this; how dare they claim to be so great when they cannot even wield the advanced Sharingan? It pains me to even acknowledge they have even one single blood cell me in their tainted, unworthy veins.'_

Sasuke's eyes widened. _'Suicide?'_

The second guy watched Itachi's reaction closely. "The other one who was absent last night was Shisui. Honestly, it was believed that you thought of Shisui like an older brother."

_'Shisui...'_ He closed his eyes, giving him the appearance that he wasn't interested in what they had to say. However, it still hadn't fully sunk into Itachi's mind that he had murdered his own cousin. He had willingly killed his best friend, just to keep a secret. Of course, he had known that if it had came to that, death would be the only way to deal with the person, but it had never occurred to him that the first one would have been Shisui. Inside, it pained him to know that the only person who ever understood him was drifting down a river, dead because of him. After the adrenaline rush had worn off, he had stayed up nearly all night convincing himself that it was necessary and that it didn't really mean as much to him as he thought. He tried to reassure himself that truly powerful people did not feel guilty or regret their actions...ever. It had took him a while, but standing in front of these people that claimed a blood relation to him, he felt nothing. His heart was cold and his mind was calm and collected. "Is that so? I have not seen him at all recently." He opened his eyes, and there was no hint of remorse, grief, or even that what had just been said affected him at all. "It's unfortunate."

"So we, the police force, decided to investigate this more thoroughly."

"Investigate?" Itachi's eyes widened with annoyance. _'An investigation will draw attention. If they listen to what this idiot thinks, then they will investigate me...which would then mean I would be watched constantly until they found out the truth.'_ The eldest dug into his pocket and pulled out a familiar folded piece of paper and held it out to Itachi. Itachi looked at it but didn't move. The eldest explained, "This is Shisui's suicide note. We have identified the handwriting. There's no doubt that it really is his writing."

Itachi looked at him, "If it wasn't a murder, what are you investigating?"

The arrogant one stepped closer than advisable. "If one can use the Sharingan, then it would easy to copy any handwriting." Itachi finally took the note and skimmed over the familiar words. _'I'm sick of missions. At this rate, Uchiha will have no future. And neither will I. This road...I walk down it no longer.'_ Itachi stared at the words he had written, hoping that when they read it, they would see what they had drove him to do. Hoping that they would understand that they had become nothing to him, nothing to even themselves. He had been told so many times during his trainings and missions that the world operated on the saying "survival of the fittest". His clan, who was practically tied on his back to be carried for the rest of his life, deserved nothing worse than death if they could not fend for themselves. He knew that he would cut those ties and watch them all struggle to live without him.

"He was the most skilled of the Uchiha, and was feared as 'Shisui of the Mirage'. He was a man who would take on any mission for the clan. It's hard to think that he would do this kind of thing and kill himself."

"You shouldn't judge others by their appearances and your preconceptions." Itachi whispered. He vividly remembered how Shisui would complain about the pointless, tedious missions and their arrogant clan who had done nothing to deserve to be so arrogant. Looking at the arrogant idiot in front of him now made him angry. Konoha was a relatively peaceful village, save the few who chose to run around and cause trouble, like Naruto Uzumaki. The note said it all. Itachi was sick of missions; Shisui had been too. If the clan continued to be as pathetic as they were, then they would surely have no future. And if Itachi continued to be the donkey he had been thus far, he would have no future either. Since he had become captain of his own squad in Anbu, there was only one other title he could acquire as a shinobi, and that was Hokage. He had no intention to ever become Hokage. It got on his nerves by just being captain. Finally, at that moment, he had mentally severed ties with his family. He was done with them. All he had to do know was leave.

"For now, we'll leave that note with you. Take that to ANBU and request that they investigate as well." The younger guy smiled wickedly, wanting nothing more than to piss off the great Itachi Uchiha that the clan respected and loved so dearly.

"Understood." Itachi nodded slightly as the guys turned to leave.

The eldest sighed warily, "I hope there'll be other clues."

The arrogant one looked over his shoulder at Itachi, "We have different ways than ANBU, too. If you try to hide anything, we'll know right away."

_BOOM!_ It was as if something had hit Itachi in the chest. He could feel his grip on the note become tighter and the evil within him stir excitedly. His eyes narrowed angrily, and for the first time, he actually frowned, giving the apparent indication that he was truly mad. "How about being more direct?" His voice sounded a bit more sinister. They turned back and Itachi had unconsciously activated his Sharingan. "You're suspicious of me, _right_?"

Before he had asked the question, Itachi had made up his mind that he would kick their asses for being so pitiful. The arrogant one scoffed and replied, "Yeah, that's right. Damned brat."

The eldest could almost feel Itachi's anger radiating off of him through his chakra. "Listen up, Itachi! If you try to betray the clan, you won't get off easy!"

His threat made Itachi's blood boil with rage. _'How dare they try to threaten me when they cannot even tell me they believe I killed Shisui?!'_ Without a second thought, Itachi's fist connected with the eldest's chin, smashed the arrogant one in the nose, and he merely flipped the silent one onto his face outside in the dirt. Sasuke's jaw dropped open with shock.

Itachi hunched over slightly, looking at the men on the ground. "It's just as I said earlier. You shouldn't judge others by their appearances and your preconceptions. You thought that I would be patient. The clan...the clan... All of you, without measuring your own capacity...had no idea of mine. And now, you lie here, defeated."

Sasuke couldn't believe his eyes. _'This side of my brother...is something I've never seen before.'_The eldest looked up at Itachi, "Shisui...had been watching over you recently. Just half a year after your joining ANBU, your actions and words became strange. What in the world are you thinking?"

Itachi frowned again and squinted his eyes. "You focus on your group, and you focus on your clan, and you focus on your name. These kinds of things should be done away with, as it restrains us and our capabilities. Also, things we have not seen yet and things we do not know yet...it is foolish to fear them." _'How can they be afraid of the gift that Sojobo has given us when there is not even one who can tell us what it does?'_

"Stop it, Itachi!" Fugaku yelled. Itachi turned to his left and saw the man standing there in his uniform. "What in the world are you saying? Itachi, you've been acting a bit strange lately."

Itachi calmed down a bit, regaining control over the hate that had consumed him and allowed the evil to seep out. "There's nothing strange...I'm carrying out my duty. That's all."

"Then why didn't you come last night?" Fugaku looked at him. As he had requested, Shisui had been keeping tabs on his son ever since he came home late as a result of a "mission". Before his "suicide", Shisui had told him that he suspected Itachi was meeting with someone on a regular basis.

"To reach the height..." Itachi whispered.

"What are you talking about?" Fugaku demanded. Itachi snatched out a shuriken and threw it, lodging it into the family crest on the stone wall, creating cracks. He turned slowly back to his father without looking at him.

"My capacity...I've lost all hope for this pathetic clan."

Sasuke remembered Itachi's explanation about the family crest. _'...That is why our family crest is on the symbol. Since long ago, the Uchiha clan has been responsible for enforcing and protecting the village's public order...The Uchiha crest also serves as a symbol of our clan's pride. Now the clan has become smaller, but most of us work here, contributing to maintaining public order. The only shinobi who can enforce the laws...are superior ones.'_

"You forget what is most important to you because you're not letting go of a lesser thing, the clan. There is no room for change if rules and regulations, expectations and wishes, prevent it from happening." Itachi tried to be calm but it infuriated him to know that Sojobo's gift was treated like some viral disease. Just because he was a demon, they feared that if others learned about their demonic blood, they would become lesser than the other clans. They didn't understand that because of it, they were the strongest, even more than the Hyuuga clan. Yet, they held onto their pride, their name, in an attempt to cover up what they considered to be shameful. It had made him even angrier when he found out that there was a rule forbidding any clan member to seek this gift. They didn't know what it could do; they just weren't supposed to find out. Their rules and regulations made it known that if any member was found with this gift, he would be put to death immediately. Their expectations and wishes for him made it impossible for him to break those rules...However, he didn't care anymore.

Fugaku helped the others get up. The eldest looked Itachi. "Such arrogance! Enough! If you keep sprouting such nonsense, we will have you arrested!"

Sasuke watched the bizarre scene in complete awe. _'This is what happens when you are skilled. Power causes you to become isolated and arrogant. In the beginning, you only aim for what you dream of.'_ Sasuke couldn't shake his brother's words out of his head. "Why, Brother..."

"Well," the eldest looked at Itachi, "What are you going to do?"

"We can't allow this anymore! Captain," the younger one looked back at Fugaku, "Please issue the order for an arrest!"

_'No...'_ Sasuke didn't want to see his brother get arrested. Not after all the good he had done for the clan, for the village... "Brother! Enough, stop!"

Itachi gasped when he realized his little brother was watching him. The only person who had a true connection to Itachi was Sasuke, and when he heard Sasuke's voice, it sparked emotion in him and shook the evil that was taking over him. The cold hatred, anger, and vengeance that had consumed him quickly faded and was replaced with the warmth Sasuke's brotherly love. Itachi fell to his knees and bowed deeply, face only a foot from the ground.

"The one who killed Shisui wasn't me. For all I have said, I am most sorry. Please forgive my rudeness."

Fugaku watched Itachi carefully then quietly accepted his son's apology. "Recently, he's been worked to death by ANBU and is tired."

"Captain!" The three looked at him, shocked.

He ignored them and continued to speak, "ANBU is a unit under the direct control of Hokage-sama. Even we, the police force, can't arrest someone without a warrant. Also about Itachi...I will take responsibility of watching over him. Please!"

Itachi's face was blank, void of any sign of emotion. He listened as his father made excuses for him. He found it quite amusing that even they had no ability to stop him. _'Who are they to tell you that you can't unlock my gift? By rights, they can't kill you if you did. That decision would ultimately be left up to the Hokage.'_ The evil voice whispered into his mind. He could feel its dark energy stirring under his skin again. _'Besides, young Uchiha, you already have it...thanks to that cousin of yours...'_

"I understand." The eldest resigned. Fugaku walked towards the house and passed Sasuke. Itachi sat up a bit and stared after his dad, hatred filling him. Sasuke gasped as he watched his brother's visible eye change. The three tomoes spun together and created some sort of warped kaleidoscope shape.

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After dinner, Fugaku told Itachi to follow him to the family room for a discussion. They both sat on their knees facing each other as Fugaku studied his son. Itachi's face held no kind of emotion, not even anger, which was what he had apparently expressed earlier that morning.

"Itachi, what's going on with you?"

"Nothing." Itachi kept his eyes on the floor. He had nothing to say to the man.

"It must be something to make you act out like that in front of everyone. Surely you don't say things like that in front of other people. You'd make the clan look bad with such nonsense."

Itachi almost rolled his eyes when he heard "the clan". It seemed like his father had missed most of what he'd said. "How can the clan possibly look bad if it is so great and mighty?"

Fugaku narrowed his eyes as his Sharingan was activated. "Do not mock us. I don't know why you've suddenly changed and have begun to feel this way about your own family, Itachi, but I will not tolerate it."

For the first time, Itachi made eye contact with his dad. "You say that as if you'll punish me. What could you possibly do the 'pride of the Uchiha'?" He gave a smug smile. All day he let his anger and hatred snowball and now he had a chance to tell his beloved father what he really was thinking.

"You are too arrogant, Itachi. I guess with us relying on you so much, it has turned you into something we cannot control any longer. We were wrong for believing you could handle the family secret. However, my first mistake was deciding to train you at such a young age." Fugaku folded his arms over his chest and closed his eyes.

Itachi's eyes flashed between his normal and new Sharingan."What makes you say that?" Itachi's voice was icy. Fugaku looked up and caught a glimpse of his son's eyes.

"So then it's true. You did kill Shisui." He closed his eyes again.

Itachi's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "How would you know?"

"You have the forbidden eyes, the Mangekyou Sharingan. Or maybe you haven't seen it yet. One only gets it after having killed a loved one."

"Or by watching them die." Itachi felt his lips move on their own. Fugaku looked up.

"That's true also. But I've seen Shisui's body. I was coming home to tell you. It looked like he had been in a scuffle with someone and may have been thrown in the river. He had bruises on his body and no one knew of any fight that he's been in recently. Then I come home and look at you and your strange new mannerisms. Your mother said the clothes you wore yesterday were damp. Your knuckles are slightly red as if you've been fighting. Above all, you have the forbidden Sharingan. All evidence points to you, Itachi."

"Yet nothing makes your accusation solid."

Fugaku chuckled, "You didn't even bother to deny it. Well, that is true. However, don't think something won't turn up. In my heart, I know you've changed. Shisui told me that he believed you have joined some secret organization with S-ranked ninjas, which may include Orochimaru. If this is true, then I can no longer call you my son. You would be a traitor to your village, and to your clan. I have already spoken to the ANBU leader about Shisui's death, and the speculation of your involvement. They've decided to look into the matter as well. As of now, all of your future missions have been reassigned until they can clear your name."

Itachi's eyes narrowed slightly. Now he had no excuse to leave Konoha which gave him no opportunities to travel to the Hidden Rain village.

"Now that you're confined to the village, I'd like to see what you'll do. I'm watching you at all times, Itachi. I will not have you making the clan look dishonorable. You will not tarnish our name. If I have to, I will request that you be put to death. Do not force my hand." Fugaku stood and left Itachi sitting there. His whole life he had waited for this moment and it had finally come. His father no longer saw him as a toy to be manipulated, but as a threat. The clan would find out eventually and then they wouldn't trust him. Finally, he would no longer be expected to be their connection to the village.

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Itachi attended his meeting with ANBU and wasn't surprised when they basically repeated everything his father had told him two weeks earlier. They, too, didn't want him potentially tarnishing their name either. He spent more time out in the forest, training to keep in shape, and secretly seeing what his new eyes could do. When Sasuke asked him to help him with his shuriken training, Itachi had to tell him no. Even though he had nothing else to do, he just didn't want his little brother following him around. He cherished his alone time and didn't want to sacrifice it for tedious things. The more he tapped into his Mangekyou Sharingan, the more it made him hate the people around him. The more it caused him to isolate himself. The more he wanted them dead.

One night, he was able to sneak off in the middle of the night after he was sure his parents were asleep and go to the Hidden Rain village. He peeked in on Shikyo and she was sound asleep. The leader was in the meeting room talking seriously with Orochimaru before they both looked up and saw him.

"Itachi." Leader-sama stood.

"I just came to check in. I know it's been months."

"Yes, it has. Have you made your plans to leave your village yet?"

Itachi stared at the floor. In the months since his confrontation with his father, he knew that he had to leave. They were still trying to find evidence that he had joined the Akatsuki. It seemed that his family no longer cared for him. While that was great, it made things harder for him."Yes, I have. But I still cannot leave yet."

"How long will this take? We plan to move our headquarters in June."

Itachi nodded. "I will be here."

"Very well." Their leader dismissed him and he turned to leave. On his way out, he passed Shikyo's room and heard the door creak open. Shikyo appeared, lids too low for her to really see anything, and went to the bathroom. Itachi stood there, intrigued by her habitual trip to the bathroom at one o'clock every morning. She came back out and took her time going back to her room. She rubbed her eyes and felt someone else standing there with her. She looked up quickly to find the hallway empty.

* * *

June--three days after Itachi's birthday

Itachi sat in a tree near the river where he had drowned his cousin, staring at the moon. The evil within him was buzzing, occasionally causing some of his body parts to temporarily become numb as if they were merely falling asleep. The sun had not set completely, yet the moon was visible and high in the sky. Orochimaru had officially left the Akatsuki after he had tried to take Itachi's body in order to obtain the Sharingan. Little did he know, Itachi's body was already partially occupied at the moment...

_'How can they make you so inferior to them when you've unlocked this gift? Every time you tap into it and use it's abilities, it makes you stronger. They fear it, Itachi. If they are so worthy then why don't they have it?' _By now he knew the voice well, and it knew him, now calling him by name.

"They are weak." Itachi admitted out loud.

_'They want to stop you. They believe they know what you plan to do. You cannot let them stop you. I will keep my promise if you keep yours. Release my body and I will give the Mangekyou unlimited power. Now extensive usage will weaken your eyesight, but with my power, I can negate that effect. Find me a body to transfer to, and I will deliver the world at your feet. Think of all that you can have, and all that you have to lose should your family decide to turn you in to the Hokage. You cannot allow that.'_

Itachi stared at the river. Dressed in his ANBU uniform, he was allowed to continue missions. However, it was hard to want to do them. For months, he had done nothing but whatever he wanted to, looking for something to challenge his mind. The missions he was assigned was nothing to the few assassinations he'd done for the Akatsuki. The thrill of the kill made it interesting; the more skilled the target was, the more effort he had to make in order to succeed.

_'Itachi, you know what you must do...and you must act now!'_

Itachi sighed. He was always a patient person. He knew that acting prematurely always ended badly. However, a part of him stirred at the thought of doing such a thing. For months he had planned it all out carefully, and now it wanted him to act. _'It is the only way you can ensure that you will be able to release me later.'_

"All of them? Even Sasuke?" Itachi asked himself.

_No, you would need three users. I know for a fact that my son is out there somewhere. Sasuke is the only one who hasn't been told about the Mangekyou Sharingan from their perspective. He's pure of their fears. He knows nothing of the bloodline. You can manipulate him. Get him to detach his emotions and activate the Mangekyou. The trick is getting him to detach his emotions. After that you would have the required three.'_

Itachi thought about Kisame had told him about Shikyo. Her parents held her back and she didn't get stronger until after they were dead. In almost every way, Shikyo was like Sasuke. Sasuke's weakness was the clan...So the clan needed to be eliminated in order to help him reach his full potential.

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How he came to be back in his clan's part of the village was a mystery to even Itachi yet there he was. The sun was beginning to disappear on the horizon. He pulled out his katana ready to begin.

''Is that Itachi?" He heard someone ask.

"Yeah, it's the brat." They noticed his katana out. "Hey! You can't just walk around with that out."

"And who's going to make me put it up? You?" Itachi didn't even bother to look up at them. He kept walking but seven people blocked his path. "I advise that you move."

"Either put it up or we'll take you down to the station." One hissed with obvious hatred for the one who had once carried the clan on his back. Itachi closed his eyes.

"Try it."

Annoyed by his arrogance all of the men charged Itachi. Sojobo fed off of their anger and took complete control over Itachi. Their deaths were a blur to him. With each death of a family member, it became easier to kill. It didn't bother him as much as it had at first. Even killing his aunt and uncle was easier than expected because when he looked at each face who had come out of their homes to see if they really had heard something he remembered how inferior he felt and how he had turned the tables: he controlled their lives...and he knew what must be done.

He finally stood at the front door of his home and looked at it knowing that it would be the last time. Inside Mikoto and Fugaku were in the family room discussing their children's whereabouts. Itachi stepped in and looked at them.

"Itachi, have you seen your little brother?" Mikoto asked worried. Itachi frowned slightly. He couldn't recall her ever asking about his whereabouts...

"Wasn't he out training?" Itachi asked. Both parents sighed.

"He did mention it this morning." Mikoto nodded with a relieved smile. "I just have this feeling something bad is going to happen to one of my boys...Now that you're home Itachi, I feel a little better. I just wish Sasuke was here as well..."

Fugaku stared at Itachi. "Your clothes...They're stained with fresh blood. Have you been fighting today?"

"I no longer care for this clan. Nor do I care for this village that holds you so dearly. Tonight I'm leaving Konoha." He kicked Fugaku in the chest knocking him to the floor then just as quickly swung Mikoto down after him. He pulled out his bloodstained katana and leveled it at them. "Sit up and get back to back."

They looked at him in disbelief then did as he said. Fugaku shook his head. "Seriously Itachi. Has your mind deteriorated so badly to the point where you'd willingly kill your own family?"

Itachi's eyes widened slightly then narrowed. "Maybe it has. But in this moment I am the one in control of your lives. No longer will you order me around. I am the dominate one. I control your fate."

One swipe across Mikoto's throat took her life. "Had you spoken up for me, had you showed me the affection you showed Sasuke...You would still be alive. But because you had no voice for me then, you'll never have one now."

Fugaku turned and saw his wife fall behind him and lay unmoving on the floor, blood spurting from her neck, eyes staring at the ceiling. He touched her gently, shaking her. "Mikoto?"

Itachi felt the void in his chest grow larger when he realized that he had slain his own mother. It didn't concern him in the least. Fugaku looked up at his son with tears in his eyes. Even though he hadn't shown Mikoto that much affection in public, in private he loved her dearly. "You _monster_!"

He charged at Itachi but Itachi saw it coming, and allowed his father to fall on his katana. He shoved him off and Fugaku stumbled backwards and looked down at his fallen wife. "Mikoto...Sasuke..." He whispered then fell over on top of his dead wife.

Thanks to Itachi's finely tuned hearing, he could hear his father's heart beating faintly. He held up his katana, then forcefully drove it down through both of their bodies to ensure they were dead.Now all he had to do was wait for Sasuke to come home...

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Sasuke realized that it was getting late and decided to head home. When he finally made it to their section of the village, an eerie chill washed over him. The lights were already out, yet it was too early for everyone to be in bed. Surely he wasn't _that_ late, was he? The chill returned, and this time he was forced to look up. For a brief second, he saw the dark outline of a figure perched atop a telephone poll, looking down at him with interest. He blinked and the shadow was gone...

He suddenly noticed bodies scattered on the ground and his mouth opened in horror. His uncle and aunt...It took several seconds before his mind accepted the possibility that they were dead. He also saw his cousins and other uncles, bodies cold with death. He ran home. He stopped at the door to take his shoes off then searched for his family. The lights were out. The kitchen was empty... He heard movement in the family room and went to investigate. When he got to the door, another noise was made and he froze, paralyzed with sudden fear. Did he want to know what was going on behind the doors?

He forced himself to move and put his hands on the door handles and pull...

Tears threaten to fill Sasuke's eyes when he saw his parents lying in a pool of their own blood, leading to his feet. He then noticed a figure standing behind them, towering over their bodies.

"Why...how?" Sasuke tried to form a sentence but was cut off by a small shuriken that sliced his left shoulder. He felt the skin rip open and instinctively held his shoulder with his right hand. He didn't see his brother move...but look in Itachi's eyes said it all.

"What are you doing, Brother?"

Itachi slowly looked up at his little brother, who until this point had admired him and dedicated himself to becoming better than him one day to earn a praise from a man who never had the intention of doing so, and saw pure confusion and fear. "Foolish little brother..." Itachi fully turned to Sasuke and his eyes began to change. "Mangekyou Sharingan!"

The images that Sasuke saw made him sick to his stomach. Bodies of those who had once smiled at him fell at his feet. He tried to call out to his uncle and aunt but they were slain as well. "Don't show me this!" Sasuke continued to scream as red splashed everywhere. The final image nearly drove him insane. "Why?!" Sasuke screamed as Itachi swung his katana at their mother and she fell dead, followed by their father. Sasuke screamed and grabbed the sides of his head, feeling as if his head would explode from the gore that he was forced to admit had been his own family. He became painfully aware that his brother was teasing him, taunting him with images from his own memory. As if he were proud of the monster he had become. He dropped to his knees then fell over into his parents' blood. He struggled to collect himself and steady his breathing and heart, lest he past out. Drool leaked from the side of his mouth, as he turned his head to look up at Itachi.

"Why?" He calmed down. Surely he had a good reason. Itachi always had a good reason...

Itachi looked the child. He closed his eyes. "To measure my capacity."

Confusion seized Sasuke. Of course, this was true, but it wasn't the real reason. It was only a half truth. He needed to mold Sasuke into a younger version of himself...to gain more power. He needed to take away Sasuke's childhood ignorance and innocence...and make him detach himself from all emotion except negative ones, like hatred...vengeance...blood lust...in order for him to be ready to be the new container. Itachi knew Sasuke better than Sasuke knew himself. Itachi knew exactly what to say to his little brother to piss him off and make him hate him just like any older sibling would know to say.

"Measure your...that's all?" Sasuke asked in disbelief. Of all the reasons he thought he would hear, that sure wasn't on the list. He studied Itachi. He was too calm. It seemed as if he didn't care about what he had done. "For that alone...everyone..."

"It was necessary." Itachi replied, still showing no emotion. Sasuke remembered how before this moment, Itachi always showed some sort of emotion when speaking to him. Even a few days ago when Itachi had poked his forehead and told him that he couldn't train with him, to show him how to use shuriken. But now his voice was emotionless, monotone. The more Sasuke thought about how little Itachi seemed to care about the genocide he'd committed, the angrier he became._ 'He's so calm...this monster...how can he not show any emotion? If he's angry then there should be some sort of emotion in his voice...Yet, he stands there with that blank look...this is not my brother...but then who is it?'_ Something within Sasuke snapped. He jumped to his feet in a blind rage and charged at Itachi.

"DON'T SCREW AROUND!!!" Sasuke yelled. What exactly he was going to do once he reached Itachi, he did not know, for he hadn't thought it through that far. Realizing that the man before him was a monster now, Sasuke was thrown into a rage he'd never known before...and would only feel whenever he laid eyes on his brother. Itachi's calmness, lack of emotion, and mere presence would always be enough to unlock his hatred and rage. Itachi watched as his younger brother rushed toward him. He moved forward to meet him, and planted his fist into his younger brother's stomach. The gesture was simple, yet it spoke volumes. Sasuke was too weak to even last one second in battle with his older brother. If Sasuke really wanted to do any harm towards the older sibling, he would have to train religiously, and pursue power by _any_ means necessary.

Sasuke fell flat only a few feet from his dead parents' bodies, sharing their pool of blood which caused the front of his shirt to become slightly damp. The expression frozen on Fugaku's face was foreign to Sasuke; he looked sad, as if he had been crying. Then it hit Sasuke. He no longer had a purpose. Before, he lived everyday with the intention of one day hearing his father tell him "as expected of my child"...Itachi had stolen that opportunity away from him. Sasuke believed that his father had died still believing that his younger son would never be like his older prized son. Mikoto was covered in dried blood. Sasuke knew he would never see her beautiful smile again. Would never feel her hold him, or even clean his wounds after training. He would never taste her food again. Would never smell her floral scent again...or ever hear her voice again. His heart began to ache as tears escaped from his eyes.

Gone.

They were all gone.

And with the exception of the monster in front of him...he was all alone.

Itachi knew how much this was hurting Sasuke, but he would rather it had been him who hurt Sasuke...because it was done out of the last bit of love that Itachi had in him. This small amount was more than enough to temporarily release the demon's hold on Itachi. Itachi saw his brother's tears and forced himself to be cold. He shut off the part of him that wanted to pick his little brother up. However, this was the only way. So much good came from this one sacrifice that Itachi had made for them both. He had cut the strings that the family and village had used to control him and one day would control Sasuke, giving them both eternal freedom. With the power he had found, they both would be invincible one day. No one would ever dare try to control them, try to make them inferior, ever again. With them eliminated, Sasuke could reach his full potential without someone towering over him, trying to make sure he didn't unlock something they were afraid of. Neither one of them would be expected to be the pride of the clan. More importantly, Itachi knew for sure that the only person within their whole clan who loved and adored him without doubts or questions was Sasuke. From the day he was born, Sasuke had adored Itachi as if he had created Heaven and Earth. No one else looked Itachi the way Sasuke had...except Shikyo. It was because of her Itachi realized how much he cared about Sasuke. He would grant him the power that Sojobo offered to make him powerful. It was what any older sibling would do for a younger one: make sacrifices to better their lives.

Sasuke's tears slowed down as a new emotion enveloped him: fear. Surely this monster would kill him as well. Itachi stepped closer to Sasuke with the intention of talking to him, to tell him what he had to do. Sasuke sat up and shook his head. "No...no...I'm scared." Sasuke stood up and ran. "Don't kill me!" He ran back to the front door and slipped his bloody feet into his shoes. He ran out the door screaming, begging for his life.

Itachi appeared suddenly out of thin air. Sasuke didn't know of any jutsu that could make someone move that fast. For a moment they just stared at each other, then Sasuke slowly shook his head. "This must be a lie. This is not how my brother is."

Itachi paused for a second. Sasuke was still clinging onto hope that he was still the good brother he knew. Itachi had to crush that hope.

"I played the role of the older brother you wanted...to test your capacity. The one who will test my capacity...you have that potential. You thought of me as unpleasant and hated me. You've always wanted to surpass me. That's why I'm going to let you live. For my sake. You're also capable of activating the Mangekyou Sharingan. But, there is a requirement for that. Your closest friend, you must...kill them."

Sasuke's eyes widened with horror. "No way!"

"Like I have." Itachi added.

Sasuke remembered the day Itachi had been questioned about Shisui's death. "That? Brother, you... Then you...? To Shisui-san?"

"That's right. And because of that, I was able to obtain these eyes. At the main temple of the Nakano shrine, underneath the seventh tatami mat on the far right side...is the clan's secret meeting place. There, you'll find the history of the Uchiha clan's doujutsu...and for what purpose it exists. The real secret is there."

"The real...secret?"

"If you can activate it, the number of people, including me, who can use the Mangekyou Sharingan will be three. If that happens, there is a reason to let you live." Itachi chuckled slightly. If he kept on, he would end up telling Sasuke the whole truth. That he had to find out on his own, and then make his own decisions. "But at the moment," He slightly moved forward and Sasuke jumped back as he predicted he would. "You aren't even worth killing."

This was true in so many ways. If he did kill Sasuke, he would be alone. Loneliness was something Itachi never built a tolerance for because he always was with someone. At home, he always had his mother and Sasuke. On missions, he always had a team. Training with his dad, Shikyo, and his sensei and team, there was always someone there, even when he wanted to be alone. Even when he was alone, Shisui had always found him and they would sit together in silence.

If he did kill Sasuke, how would he get the power promised to him? What point was there to measure himself against his little brother when he knew that Sasuke wasn't as skilled as he was? For Itachi, there were so many reasons to keep his younger sibling alive and so few to actually kill him. In fact, there was only one reason he could think of to kill him: end his suffering. By simply looking at the expression Sasuke had on his face now, Itachi knew, that with time, his heart would heal and he would then become an avenger...begin to hate...and come for him.

"My foolish little brother..." Itachi knew that Sasuke would eventually one day try to find him to kill him. But in Sasuke's mind, it would be to avenge the clan. Itachi wanted to tell him that the clan he wanted to avenge wasn't who he thought they were...Foolish. Sasuke was foolish. He would try to avenge people who only had the intention of making his life a living hell on earth. Itachi saved him and one day he would hunt Itachi down for doing them a favor. _'Foolish little brother...if that's how you want it, fine.'_ "If you want to kill me, despise me, hate me, and live a wretched life...run away, run away...and cling to life. And then some day, when you have the same eyes as I do, come before me."Itachi narrowed his eyes, using a bit of the Mangekyou's power to get inside his little brother's head, and watched as Sasuke fell unconscious on the ground.

He approached the boy's body and bent down to him. He studied Sasuke's face, burning it into his memory forever. With a small smirk, he took his index and middle finger of his left hand and gently poked Sasuke in the forehead one last time, severing the bond they once had, secretly hoping one day it would be restored and together they would be invincible.

"You have some growing to do, little brother. Survive at all costs, grow stronger at all costs...and remember...let no one use you..." He stood and disappeared, leaving his only family member left alive, in the cool night breeze.

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Itachi arrived to the Akatsuki headquarters to a peculiar scene. He jumped down from the tree and landed next to Zetsu. "What happened here?"

"We don't know yet." Zetsu answered, glancing at him out of the corner of his eye.

"Where's Shikyo?"

"No one's seen her leave." Kisame answered stiffly. Itachi turned to the building. _'Surely she had gotten out...'_

"We can't just stand here and wait. One of us should go in and search personally. Zetsu, can't you go in?" Deidara suggested.

Itachi watched the flames jump into the air and felt the heat blown by the gentle breeze. Zetsu replied, "Why won't you go in?"

It was stupid of them to just stand there when there were ways to get in and find her before it was too late. However, Itachi wasn't motivated to move. Leaving Sasuke was still on his mind...

"I'll go." Kisame stepped forward. He made a few hand signs and a water dragon appeared and slammed into the building, putting out the flames in the part of the building that Shikyo was supposed to be in. He disappeared inside.

Itachi thought about his student that he had left in their care. He'd told her to train hard so that when he returned they could have a battle to determine her growth. It was disappointing to know that his battle may not come. Fifteen minutes, Kisame appeared with a body, charred beyond recognition. "This is what I found in her room." His voice held a detectable hint of sorrow.

Itachi felt his heart sink a bit. Typical. "No...way..." Deidara whispered. Itachi stepped closer to get a better look. The smell of burnt flesh invaded his sharp senses and he immediately stepped back.

The leader spat an array of colorful words as he turned away from the sight. "All of that hard work..."

Itachi looked down at the body. _'Another dead person...It's funny how I go and kill all of those pathetic people...and return to find another dead.'_

Their leader collected himself, "Fine, then we'll just proceed to phase two of the plan. We have the money anyway from all of the people we've tricked over the years. We'll move base to Amegakure as discussed. Zetsu, you stay behind and make sure that all of this is cleaned up and erased. We're not going to leave a trail. Itachi, are you with us for good?"

Itachi nodded. He slowly moved to remove his headband and looked at it. It was a shame he wouldn't see Sasuke get his. He took a shuriken out of its holster and put a line through the center of it. He could never go back, not even for Sasuke. He had thought about taking Sasuke with him, but he knew that as much Sasuke had adored him, he would never be able to detach himself from his emotions. It was better this way. He tied the headband back on and looked at their leader.

"Good. You'll still be paired with Kisame since your fighting styles compliment each other. The other teams will be Sasori and Deidara, Kazuku and Hidan, Zetsu will be on his own, and Konan will be with me."

"What about Orochimaru?" Deidara asked. Itachi visibly tensed. He had to watch Orochimaru. Knowing that Orochimaru wanted the Sharingan, the snake man could easily screw up Itachi's plans. Especially if Sasuke ever managed to activate the Mangekyou Sharingan...then the world would be at the man's mercy.

"If we ever cross paths with him again, he's to be killed on sight. He knows too much of our plans, he's taken his ring with him, and he didn't tell us that he was leaving. He knew the procedure for leaving this group. There's no reason why I would make Deidara go through that and not him. Don't bother to go after him, but if you see him, bring his head to me."

They all nodded then turned their backs to the flaming building, leaving Zetsu behind.


End file.
